Electrical Properties of N-Type InSb in High Electric Field at 77°K.

The current-voltage character and Hall coefficient of n-type InSb with different electron density were measured in a pulsive high electric field, at 77°K. In a high electric field, impact ionization from full band to conduction band occurred and the resistivity and Hall coefficient of n-type InSb decreased rapidly with increasing electric field. In the same region of electric field, Hall mobility decreased and drift velocity reached a maximum value and then decreased. In the curve of the electron density versus µ E 2 , the rate of energy gain from electric field, there existed a critical value of µ E 2 where the electron density increased infinitely. This critical value of µ E 4 increased with decreasing electron mobility at low field, and, in one sample, also increased with decreasing strength of the transverse magnetic field.