Electron–phonon coupling in degenerate silicon-on-insulator film probed using superconducting Schottky junctions

Energy flow rate in degenerate n-type silicon-on-insulator (SOI) film is studied at low temperatures. The electrons are heated above the lattice temperature by electric field and the electron temperature is measured via semiconductor–superconductor quasiparticle tunneling. The energy flow rate in the system is found to be proportional to T5, indicating that electron–phonon relaxation rate and electron–phonon phase breaking rate are proportional to T3. The electron–phonon system in the SOI film is in the “dirty limit” where the electron mean free path is smaller than the inverse of the thermal phonon wave vector.