INELASTIC-SCATTERING IN A DOPED POLAR SEMICONDUCTOR AT FINITE TEMPERATURE

We calculate, using the Born approximation, the finite-temperature scattering rate for hot electrons injected into n-type doped GaAs for various doping densities and injected-electron energies. We treat the base region as a three-dimensional coupled electron-phonon system, so that the Coulomb and Frohlich interactions with the injected electron are put on an equal footing. For moderate to high doping densities (n greater-than-or-similar-to 8 X 10(17) cm-3) and injection energies of E - E(F) greater-than-or-similar-to 100 meV, our results indicate that (1) the increase in the scattering rate from T = 0 K to T = 300 K is typically less than a factor of 2, and (2) the scattering rates decrease with increasing doping density.