Abstract
Cryogenic bolometric sensors made from epitaxially grown Si:As have been tested down to 40 mK. The sensors were grown by chemical vapour deposition with a doped layer 8.4 μm thick. The dopant concentration was measured using SIMS and was constant, ±1%, with an excellent box profile. Arsenic concentrations up to 7.5×1018 cm−3 were achieved. Above 100 mK the low power resistanceR(T) followed the variable range hopping law, or Efros-Shklovskii law for a Coulomb gap,R(T)=R 0 exp(T 0/T)1/2 withT 0∼25 K, typically. A double sensor arrangement was used to measure the electronphonon coupling in the sensors and the phonon coupling to the heat sink. As the dc current bias through a sensor was increased, spontaneous voltage oscillations were observed across the sensor below 100 mK, which limited the sensitivity of the sensors in this region. These are circuit-limited oscillations between high and low resistance states. A phase diagram was established for the spatio-temporal coexistence of the two states, with a critical temperatureT c=115 mK. We show that this is an intrinsic phase transition within a thermal model of the electron-phonon coupling. For a resistance-temperature characteristic given by the Efros-Shklovskii law we findT c=0.00512T 0, independent ofR 0 and the coupling strength. This predictsT c=115±4 mK in this case. The model gives excellent agreement for the critical voltage and current, by assuming that the breakdown occurred via the formation of a filamentary region of high current density and high electron temperature. At higher currents, the response was temperature independent and given byI(E)=I(0) exp{−(E 0/E)1/2} whereE is the average applied electric field andE 0∼380 V/cm, in agreement with a thermal model which includes the phonon-phonon coupling to the heat sink.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
B. Sadoulet,J. Low Temp. Phys. 93, 821 (1993). See volume 93 ofJ. Low Temp. Phys. for the Proceedings of the 5th International Workshop on Low Temperature Detectors.
E. E. Haller, N. P. Palaio, M. Rodder, W. L. Hansen, and E. Kreysa, inNeutron Transmutation Doping of Semiconductor Materials R. D. Larrahee (Ed.), Plenum, New York (1984), p. 21.
P. Stefanyi, C. C. Zammit, R. Rentzsch, P. Fozooni, J. Saunders and M. J. Lea,Physica B 194–196, 9 (1994).
C. C. Zammit, T. J. Sumner, I. D. Hepbutn, and P. A. R. Ade,Nucl. Instr. and Methods A 310, 244 (1991); R. L. Kelley, S. H. Moseley, C. K. Stahle, A. E. Szymkowiak, M. Juda, D. McCammon, and J. Zhang,J. Low Temp. Phys. 93, 287 (1993).
A. Alessandrello, C. Brofferio, D. V. Camin, C. Cattadori, R. Cavallini, O. Cremonesi, E. Fiorini, A. Giuliani, A. Maglione, B. Margesin, A. Nucciotti, S. Parmeggiano, M. Pavan, M. Perego, G. Pessina, G. Pignatel, E. Previtali, M. Sisti, and L. Zanotti,Nucl. Instr. Meth. A 370, 244 (1996); A. Alessandrello, C. Brofferio, D. V. Camin, P. Caspani, C. Cattadori, P. Colling, O. Cremonesi, E. Fiorini, A. Giuliani, B. Margesin, A. Nucciotti, M. Pavan, G. Pessina, G. Pignatel E. Previtali, L. Zanotti, and M. Zen,Czech. J. Phys. 46, S5, 2891 (1996).
B. I. Shklovskii and A. L. Efros,Electronic Properties of Doped Semiconductors Springer-Verlag, Berlin (1984).
N. Wang, F. C. Wellstood, B. Sadoulet, E. E. Haller, and J. Beeman,Phys. Rev. B 41 3761 (1990).
J. Zhang, W. Cui, M. Juda, D. McCammon, P. P. Plucinsky, W. T. Sanders, C. Snedeker, R. Kelley, S. S. Holt, G. M. Madejski, S. H. Moseley, and A. E. Szymkowiak, unpublished notes fromThe Workshop on Semiconductor Thermistors for Millikelrin Operation, Berkeley, 1991.
S. M. Grannan, A. E. Lange, E. E. Haller, and J. W. Beeman,Phys. Rev. B 45, 4516 (1992).
M. Lehr, R. P. Huebener, U. Rau, J. Parisi, W. Clauss, J. Peinke and B. Rochricht,Phys. Rev. B 42, 9019 (1990).
U. Rau, W. Clauss, A. Kittel, M. Lehr, M. Bayerbach, J. Parisi, J. Peinke, and R. P. Huebener,Phys. Rev. B 43, 225 (1991).
J. Peinke, R. Richter, and J. Parisi,Phys. Rev. 47, 115 (1993); G. Hüpper, K. Pyragas, and E. Schöll,Phys. Rev. 47, 15515 (1993).
B. Kehner, W. Quade, and E. Schöll,Phys. Rev. B 51, 7225 (1995); and references therein.
A. Wacker, G. Schwarz, F. Prengell, E. Schöll, J. Kastrup, and H. T. Grahn,Phys. Rev. B 52, 13788 (1995); and references therein.
P. Stefanyi, C. C. Zammit, P. Fozooni, M. J. Lea, and G. Ensell,J. Phys. Condens. Matter 9, 881 (1997).
E. Schöll,Nonequilibrium Phase Transitions in Semiconductors, Springer, Berlin (1987).
J. J. Quenby, T. J. Summer, J. P. Li, A. Bewick, S. M. Grant, D. Shaul, N. J. T. Smith, W. G. Jones, G. J. Davies, C. C. Zammit, A. D. Caplin, R. A. Stradling, T. Ali, C. H. Lally, P. F. Smith, G. J. Homer, G. T. J. Arnison, J. D. Lewin, G. J. Alner, A. M. Cruise, M. J. J. Vandenputte, N. J. C. Spooner, J. C. Barton, P. R. Blake, M. J. Lea, P. Stefanyi and J. Saunders,Phys. Lett. B 351, 70 (1995).
G. Pignatel and S. Sanguinetti,J. Phys. Condens. Matter 5, 191 (1993).
W. N. Shafarman and T. G. Castner,Phys. Rev. B 33, 3570 (1986).
See T. G. Castner,Modern Problems in Condensed Matter Physics Vol. 28: Hopping Transport in Solids, M. Pollak and B. Shklovskii (Eds.), North-Holland (1991), pp. 1–49, for a review.
M. Hornung and H. v. Löhneysen,Czech. J. Phys. 46 S5 2437 (1996).
I. S. Shlimak, M. Kaveh, R. Ussyshkin, V. Ginodman, and L. Resnick,Phys. Rev. Lett. 77, 1103 (1996).
K. M. Itoh, E. E. Haller, J. W. Beemtan, W. L. Hansen, J. Emes, L. A. Reichertz, E. Kreysa, T. Shutt, A. Cummings, W. Stockwell, B. Sadoulet, J. Muto, J. W. Farmer, and V. I. Ozhogin,Phys. Rev. Lett. 77 4058 (1996).
R. W. van der Heijden, G. Chen, A. I. A. M. de Waele, H. M. Gijsman, and F. P. B. Tielen,Solid State Commun. 78, 5 (1991).
J. Zhang, W. Cui, M. Juda, D. McCammon, R. Kelley, S. H. Moseley, C. K. Stahle, and A. E. Szymkowiak,Phys. Rev. B 48, 2312 (1993).
I. S. Shlimak, M. Kaveh, R. Ussyshkin, V. Ginodman, S. D. Baranonovski, P. Thomas, H. Vaupel, and R. W. van der Heijden,Phys. Rev. Lett. 75, 4764 (1995).
P. Dai, J. Zhang, and M. P. Sarachik,Phys. Rev. Lett. 69, 1804 (1992).
J. G. Massey and M. Lee,Phys. Rev. Lett. 77, 3399 (1996).
X. Liu, A. Sidorenko, S. Wagner, P. Ziegler and H. v. Löhneysen,Phys. Rev. Lett. 77, 3395 (1996).
R. W. van der Heijden, G. Chen, A. T. A. M. de Waele, H. M. Gijsman, and F. P. B. Tielen,Phil. Mag. B 65, 849 (1992).
W. Clauss, U. Rau, J. Peinke, J. Parisi, A. Kittel, M. Bayerbach, and R. P. Huebener,J. Appl. Phys. 70, 232 (1991).
R. M. Hill,Phil. Mag. 24, 1307 (1971).
M. Pollack and I. Riess,J. Phys. C 2, 2339 (1976).
B. I. Shklovskii,Fiz. Tekh. Pol.,10, 855 (1976); [Sov. Phys. Semicond. 10, 855 (1976)].
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Stefanyi, P., Zammit, C.C., Fozooni, P. et al. Epitaxial Si sensors at low temperatures: Non-linear effects. J Low Temp Phys 109, 107–133 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02396727
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02396727