Ionized-Impurity-Limited Mobility and the Band Structure of Mercuric Selenide

A calculation is performed, in the Born approximation, of the ionized-impurity-limited conductivity of a conduction band with the Kane form, taking into account the symmetry of the conduction-band wave functions. Using the band parameters for mercuric selenide obtained by Whitsett from Shubnikov—de Haas measurements, it is shown that Whitsett's 4.2 K mobilities as a function of electron concentration are in excellent agreement with the results of a calculation for a ${\Gamma }_8$ band edge, but not with those for a ${\Gamma }_6$ band edge. It is also pointed out that Whitsett's band parameters require a much smaller valence-band overlap than that obtained by Harman. These results indicate an inverted, gray-tin-type structure for mercuric selenide.