Electron scattering via interactions with optical phonons in wurtzite crystals

Wurtzite semiconductors GaN, ZnO, CdS, and CdSe are studied in this paper. Optical phonon frequencies of these semiconductors are calculated as a function of angle with respect to the c axis. Electron-phonon interaction Hamiltonians and the total scattering rates are derived. Scattering rates for GaN, ZnO, CdS, and CdSe are calculated as a function of the electron incident angle. The emission of TO-like modes exhibits the strongest dependence on the electron incident angle. Scattering rates are also calculated as functions of the initial electron energy. The scattering rates are dependent weakly upon the initial electron energy. As expected, the dependence is most pronounced for the emission of phonons by electrons with energy close to the threshold values of phonon emission.