DETAILED STUDY OF THE ELECTRON-PHONON INTERACTION IN ALKALI HALIDES* PART I THE TRANSPORT OF ELECTRONS WITH ENERGIES BETWEEN .25 AND 7.5 eV

ARSTRACT The interaction between conduction electrons with energies from .25 to 7.5 eV and longitudinal optical phonons in alkali halides is studied in detail by time dependent perturbation theory. Expressions for the rate and angular distribution of scattering are obtained. The electron transport problem is then solved with the exact quantum mechanical scattering results by a direct simulation Monte Carlo method. Probabilities of escape and average energy losses for electrons generated isotropically at a certain depth in the material, with a given initial energy, are computed for CsI, KCl, NaF, and LiF. A simple theory shows the effective mass and temperature dependence. The effect of including scattering to angles other than forward is quite apparent in the results.