Full band Monte Carlo simulations of high-field electron transport in wide band-gap semiconductors

We perform ab initio band structure calculations within density functional theory using an exact exchange formalism and a local density approximation for correlations. Ensemble Monte Carlo simulations consider all relevant scattering mechanisms including a realistic impact ionization rate. This full-band ensemble Monte Carlo method is applied to study the high-field electron transport. Results can be given for the total electron-phonon scattering rate, the drift velocity, the mean kinetic energy, the valley occupations and the ionization coefficient. We show here exemplary results for the wide band-gap materials ZnS and GaN.