The effect of pressure on Gunn phenomena in gallium arsenide

Abstract The I–V characteristics and electrical resistivity of n -type GaAs at electric fields up to 7000 V/cm have been studied as a function of the energy separation ΔE g between the [000] and [100] minima in the conduction band. Variation in ΔE g is effected by superposed hydrostatic pressures in the range up to 37 kbar. The experimental results are compared with the transferred electron theory of the Gunn effect developed by B utcher and F awcett and reasonable agreement is obtained. A value of 235±25 cm 2 / V - cm is inferred for the mobility of carriers in the [100] minima.