Carrier scattering by native defects in heavily doped semiconductors

Calculations of the effect of charged native defects on carrier mobility in semiconductors are presented. The concentrations of native defects are calculated within the framework of the recently proposed amphoteric-native-defect model. The model provides a simple rule for identification of semiconductor systems in which defect scattering is important. It is shown that native-defect scattering is a dominant mechanism limiting electron mobilities in heavily doped n-type GaAs. It is also shown that native defects do not play any significant role in p-type GaAs.