Concept information
Preferred term
impact ionization
Definition
- Impact ionization is the process in a material by which one energetic charge carrier can lose energy by the creation of other charge carriers. For example, in semiconductors, an electron (or hole) with enough kinetic energy can knock a bound electron out of its bound state (in the valence band) and promote it to a state in the conduction band, creating an electron-hole pair. For carriers to have sufficient kinetic energy a sufficiently large electric field must be applied, in essence requiring a sufficiently large voltage but not necessarily a large current. (Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impact_ionization)
Broader concept
Entry terms
- impact ionisation
In other languages
-
French
URI
http://data.loterre.fr/ark:/67375/MDL-XRC5D4X7-F
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