Scattering of Electrons in Heavily Doped Semiconductors

An analysis is made for systematic change of the low temperature resistivity versus temperature curves with the change of donor concentration found in heavily Sb-doped germanium. The observed results are consistently accounted for in terms of the assumption that the donor electrons are degenerate in a rigid band with the same structure as the pure crystal, and of a specific assumption for the energy dependence of the coulomb scattering which deviates distinctly from the usual one at low energies where the electron wavelength is greater than the average impurity distance. The assumptions are shown to be consistent with observed temperature dependence of the Hall effect. The resistivity vs temperature curves for single valley, including the case induced by applying uniaxial stress, and other multivalley semiconductors are interpreted on the same basis.