Strong electric field heating of conduction-band electrons in SiO2

We demonstrate that average conduction-band electrons in a wide-band-gap insulator, SiO2, are heated several electronvolts above the conduction-band edge at fields of 5 to 12 MV/cm. The electronic energy distribution appears to be stabilized at these high fields by energy-loss mechanisms other than LO-phonon scattering. © 1984 The American Physical Society.