Monte Carlo study of high-energy electrons in silicon dioxide

A Monte Carlo study of high-field electronic transport in silicon dioxide is undertaken. Contrary to previous theoretical studies, we do not model the electronic structure by a single free-electron-like band. Our model accounts for a set of satellite valleys which contribute density of states needed for effective scattering at a few electronvolts. We find that the electronic distribution is stable for fields on the order of 10 MV/cm.