Hall effect in n-type InP crystals: Thermal activation energy and influence of compensation

Abstract

Hall coefficient results between 10 and 300 K are reported on n‐type InP crystals with room‐temperature carrier concentrations ranging between 3.4×10¹⁴ and 5.2×10¹⁷ cm⁻³. The thermal activation energy E_d was deduced, particularly for samples in the isolated impurity range. It was found to decrease from about 6.3 to 2 meV in samples with carrier concentration increasing from 3.4×10¹⁴ to 1.6×10¹⁶ cm⁻³. The decrease in activation energy was observed to be influenced by compensation (N_d−N_a) and to follow approximately the relation E_d=7.2[1−3×10⁻⁶(N_d−N_a)^1/3] meV. This decrease was also discussed on the basis of a more refined approach, leading to a degeneracy concentration in reasonable agreement with the experimental results.