BALLISTIC CHARGE-CARRIER KINETICS AND PHONON DRAG IN SEMICONDUCTING POINT CONTACTS

New types of thermoelectric effects occurring in semiconducting point contacts whose dimensions are smaller than the inelastic electron and phonon relaxation lengths are analysed. Among them are the reduction of thermoelectric electromotive force in the point contact relative to the bulk material, making possible the determination of the phonon-drag contribution to the Seebeck coefficient, the heat release asymmetry in the banks of the contact, and hot-spot formation in the area of current concentration. These effects are of interest in an investigation of relaxation mechanisms in semiconductors as well as in studying possible new phenomena occurring in high-level integration electronic microcircuits.