Electron–phonon scattering and mean free paths in D-carbon

Abstract

Through first-principles simulations combined with the Wannier function interpolation method, the hot carrier scattering rates of D-carbon are studied. The calculated scattering rates reveal that optical and acoustic phonons dominate the scattering around the valence and the conduction band edges, respectively, while mode-resolved scattering analysis shows that the transverse optical phonons dominate the scattering processes with the energy range 0.2 eV away from the band edges in D-carbon. The relaxation times of holes are significantly longer than those of electrons around the band edges due to the different scattering intensity. In addition, owing to the long lifetimes and the strong dispersion of valence bands, the mean free paths of hot holes are dramatically larger than those of hot electrons.