Current Flow across Grain Boundaries inn-Type Germanium. I

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Abstract
A theory of the current flow across grain boundaries in n‐type germanium is given. In the temperature range where carrier generation in the space charge region can be neglected and for donor concentrations in the bulk larger than 1014/cm3, the current is carried essentially by electrons crossing the barrier, the zero bias conductance is independent of the donor concentration and is given by G0=2.2·108Te−φ0/kT. The apparent activation energy φ0 is directly related to the barrier height. The current for applied voltages which are large compared to kT/q fails to saturate. The deviation for saturation is related to the density of states in the boundary band. At sufficiently low temperatures the carrier generation in the space‐charge region is the rate‐determining process for the current flow across the boundary.

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