Impurity recombination of hot current carriers with the participation of optical phonons

In the framework of a modified cascade capture theory, this work examines the recombination of hot current carriers at impurity attractive centers in semiconductors with, in the first stage, optical phonon capture assisting in conditions of the carrier distribution for scattering by zero-point lattice vibrations. Calculation of the effect on carrier recombination of the excited states of the impurity centers with binding energy is less than that given in the Lax model and leads to a more distinct negative differential resistance. The quantitative results obtained are evaluated and an estimate is made of the magnitudes of the processes hindering observation of recombination with the assistance of optical phonons