Trade-Offs and Compromises in Carrier Properties of Semiconducting Materials

While carrier transport properties are critical to semiconductor efficiency, estimations for new materials based upon prior mobility measurements can be problematic. As with all new-materials screens, carrier transport screens must be based only on properties readily available prior to synthesis, such as composition. For semiconducting radiation detectors, transport is characterized by the mu-tau product and its carrier mobility (mu) and lifetime (tau) components. Because the time to pure-material synthesis is generally long, and due to the associated problems with fully-characterizing impure and defect-containing early-stage materials, it is advantageous to consider “ultimate” properties appropriate to the projected performance of a more advanced material. Here, ultimate properties and their application to materials screening of electron mobilities of semiconductors is discussed within the context of optical polaron scattering. The use of ultimate properties for electron mobility and lifetime in screening semiconducting radiation detectors is assessed to determine whether required inputs for electron mobility and carrier lifetime are likely to be accessible to screenable form for new-materials.