Temperature dependence of transverse acoustic phonons in semiconductors

The temperature dependence of TA phonons due to (i) electron-phonon interaction, (ii) lattice expansion, and (iii) phonon-phonon interaction is estimated using the simple dielectric model of any tetrahedral semiconductor. It is found that the phonon-phonon interaction has the greatest effect. For the case of Ge near its melting point the estimate is in agreement with recent neutron-scattering measurements of Hennion and Schott. © 1985 The American Physical Society.