Temperature dependence of Debye–Waller factors of semiconductors

Abstract Temperature dependence of Debye–Waller factors such as mean square relative displacement (MSRD) and mean square displacement (MSD) in extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) and related spectra of semiconductors have been studied based on statistical moment method. This work illustrates our derived theory for calculation and analysis of temperature-dependent MSRD of semiconductors and our further developments of a previous work on MSD for zinc-blende type semiconductors by making detailed analysis and conclusions on their thermodynamic properties. Numerical results for MSRD of Si, Ge having diamond structure, and MSD of GaAs, GaP, InP, InSb having zinc-blende structure, are found to be in good and reasonable agreement with experiment and with those of other theories. It is found that the MSD of a semiconductor element changes when it is mixed by another semiconductor element to be compound and is about equal to the one of its another constituent element.