Carrier scattering by dislocations in semiconductors

This paper reviews what is known about carrier scattering by dislocations in semiconductors, specifically the misfit dislocations formed at the interfaces of strain-relaxed heterostructures. Carrier scattering by these dislocations is the usual explanation for the poor transport characteristics found in such structures. However, awareness of the current state of the field appears to be poor; papers are often found to use inappropriate models or reference work which has since been substantially revised and updated. No doubt this is the result of the sparse and disparate nature of literature (the most recent review is twenty years old). With this in mind, this paper covers a broad range of topics, from the structure of the dislocation core and the associated energy levels, to various models used to describe carrier scattering, and effects due to screening and strain fields. The latest work on dislocation scattering in two-dimensional systems is also discussed. (C) 2001 Kluwer Academic Publishers.