Analysis of Electron Hole Propagation in
Low-Temperature <111>-aligned Silicon Crystals

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Abstract/Contents

Abstract: We implement the Dresselhaus-Kip-Kittel (DKK) Model to evaluate and simulate signals obtained from electron holes propagating through a low-temperature silicon crystal in a uniform electric field. The DKK model, first formulated in the 1950s, categorizes the valence energy levels in Silicon into two warped, degenerate bands (denoted “heavy” and “light” respectively) and a spherical spin-orbit band, deriving the approximate energy functions of each band. It has remained a popular model for decades due to its simplicity and relative accuracy, despite some disagreements with recent first-principles calculations. Here we attempt to fit the DKK model to the signals generated by electron-hole pair creating interactions in a millimeter-scale crystalline silicon substrate, where the model’s <100> energy preference results in tri-lobed anisotropic patterns. The model can provide some basic explanations of particular features found in the signals, such as signal profile shapes, but has trouble connecting to an overall quantifiable anisotropy. Proper modeling of the transport of electron holes in crystalline silicon will help make these substrates useful direct detection media, especially for distinguishing the patterns of potential WIMPs.

Type of resource	text
Date created	June 7, 2017

Author	Allen, James
Degree granting institution	Stanford University, Department of Physics
Primary advisor	Cabrera, Blas
Advisor	Gratta, Giorgio

Subject	Stanford University Department of Physics
Subject	CDMS
Subject	DKK Model
Subject	Anisotropy
Genre	Thesis

Location	https://purl.stanford.edu/yk926pp9521

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License: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).

Preferred Citation: Allen, James. (2017). Analysis of Electron Hole Propagation in
Low-Temperature <111>-aligned Silicon Crystals. Stanford Digital Repository. Available at: http://purl.stanford.edu/yk926pp9521

Undergraduate Theses, Department of Physics

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