Effect of Holes on the Elastic Constant C′ of Degenerate p-Type Si

A generalized theory of the dependence of the elastic constant C′ of heavily doped p‐type Si on hole concentration is presented. The strain dependence of the valence subband shifts is assumed to be an admixture of terms linear and quadratic in the strain. The theory accounts for the measured values of δC′=C′_doped −C′_pure and it is consistent with a constant value of the shear deformation potential constant ${\Xi }_s\prime$ . This is an improvement over previous results, based on purely linear subband shifts in strain, where the interpretation of the experimental data required the assumption of a hole‐concentration‐dependent deformation‐potential constant.