Surfaces, Interfaces, and Layered Devices

Building blocks for nanodevices!

W. Pauli: God made solids, but surfaces were the work of Devil.

Surfaces and Interfaces 1

 Interface between a crystal and vacuum

Schematic representation of the potential landscape in a

finite crystal, which gets modified close to the surface.

Surface states (S) may result, with typical energies

inside the gap between the valence band (VB) and the
conduction band (CB)

Surfaces and Interfaces 2

Surface states emerge from the conduction and valence band since the
total number of states is conserved.
Surface states are usually partly filled, so the chemical potential is
located within the surface band.

Hence, the energy bands get bended and the Fermi level gets pinned
utmost important for semiconductor heterostructures.
To find energies and wave functions one should solve the
Schrdinger equation in a realistic potential, which often has to be
found in a self-consistent way generally difficult!

1D chain of 10 atoms.
The surface states are split from
other N-2 states, their energies
turn out to be larger than those
of bulk states

Surfaces and Interfaces 3

 Energy of surface states in the
one-dimensional Shockley model,
shown as a function of the
lattice constant a.
After [ShockleyI939].

At e.g. a2, both a donor-like

and an acceptor-like surface
states are
present.

Maue-Shockley states no modification of the potential

Tamm-Goodwin states due to modification of the potential
In general more complicated than simple models

Surfaces and Interfaces 4

Surface states in real systems are complicated.

In particular, one has to allow for:

So-called surface reconstruction (change of symmetry)
Changes in the surface potential to preserve electrical
neutrality
Possibilities for surface states to serve as donors and
acceptors

Surfaces and Interfaces 5

 Band bending and Fermi level pinning

What happens to the surface states if the material is doped?

Usually both donor-like and acceptor-like surface states will appear,
and that leads to important complications.
Let us consider an example of a n-doped semiconductor.
Then the donor electrons in the conduction band will reduce their
energy by occupying the acceptor-like surface states.
In this way a negative surface charge will be generated,
counterbalanced by a positive charge from ionized donors in the
depletion layer near the surface.

Surfaces and Interfaces 6

Illustration: Depleted layer

Zdep

After equilibration: the surface gets

charged, an upward band bending
results, the Fermi level gets pinned
Before equilibration keeping neutrality

Surfaces and Interfaces 7

How to find the thickness of the depleted layer?
If the donors are fully ionized then the charge density
is .
Then, the Poisson equation gives the z-dependence of
the potential:

Then

The total surface density, , is still small

compared to the integrated density of surface states, so
the chemical potential is almost independent of the doping
concentration.
Surfaces and Interfaces 8
In a p-type material the bands bend downwards creating a
well for electrons rather than a barrier.

Surfaces and Interfaces 9

Semiconductor-metal interfaces

Schottky barriers
Ohmic contacts

Surfaces and Interfaces 10

Interfaces are like surfaces; it is semi-extended functions that
have to match at the interface.
Most interesting are the situations where the states are located in
the conduction band of one component, but in the gap of other one.

Most important example the states in the gap of a

semiconductor, but in a conduction band of a metal.
The extended wave functions in a metal induce evanescent waves
in a semiconductor the so-called induced gap states (IGS).

These states are similar to

the decaying wave function
in vacuum.

Surfaces and Interfaces 11

Band alignment and Schottky barrier
Work function
Electron affinity

Typical energy band alignment

between a metal (left) and a
semiconductor (right) before charge
transfer across the interface is
allowed.

New feature - induced gap

interface states (IGS) due to
matching of the wave functions.
Interface states can be both
donor-like and acceptor-like

Surfaces and Interfaces 12

Before charge transfer After charge transfer
from donors

After charge transfer

from metal
Schottky
barrier

Since depletion layer is very

thin, the step is drawn as sharp
Surfaces and Interfaces 13
Schottky model
Schottky barrier

Interface states are

ignored

Positions of the Fermi levels of a metal and a n-doped semiconductor

in equilibrium as obtained within the Schottky model.

Surfaces and Interfaces 14

Schottky diode (semiconductor is grounded)

Band diagram at positive (a)

and negative (b) voltage Current-voltage curve
(semiconductor is grounded)

Surfaces and Interfaces 15

Variety of Applications.

The Schottky diode is used in a wide variety of applications. It can naturally be

used as a general-purpose rectifier. However, in terms of RF applications, it is
particularly useful because of its high switching speed and high-frequency
capability.

Schottky diodes are similarly very good as RF detectors as their low capacitance
and forward-voltage drop enable them to detect signals which an ordinary PN
junction would not see.

It has already been mentioned that the Schottky diode has a high-current density
and low forward-voltage drop. As a result, Schottky diodes are widely used in
power supplies. By using these diodes, less power is wasted, making the supply
more efficient.

The Schottky diode is used in logic circuits as well as a fundamental building block
in a number of other devices

Surfaces and Interfaces 16

 Ohmic contacts
Ohmic contacts can take place when conduction band of
both sides overlap

InAs - metal

Without Schottky barrier With narrow Schottky

barrier (heavily doped)

Surfaces and Interfaces 17

Conventional semiconductor interface: p-n junction

Surfaces and Interfaces 18

 Semiconductor heterointerfaces
Alignment of surface chemical potentials

n p

IGS

Quantum charge
is neglected
IGS

Before charge transfer

Equilibration of bulk chemical potentials

Surfaces and Interfaces 19

Types of alignment in heterostructures

Type I, Type II, Type II,

center staggered misaligned

Surfaces and Interfaces 20

There are many theoretical models for the interface band alignment.

However, the agreement between theory and experiments is often

hampered by surface defects and imperfections, interface strains, etc.

Still, the state-of-art technology can provide close-to-perfect interfaces,

which can be considered by modern analytical and numerical models.

Surfaces and Interfaces 21

Field effect transistors and quantum wells

Si-MOSFET
GaAs-HEMT
Other devices

Surfaces and Interfaces 22

 Si-MOSFET

p-doped Si

Metallic Ohmic contacts

gate

Oxide, SiO2

Band alignment along the dashed line at Vg= 0

Surfaces and Interfaces 23

Vg = 0

Vg > 0

Inversion (acc. of electr.)

Vg < 0

Accumulation of holes

Ambipolar device

Surfaces and Interfaces 24

 Wave functions and eigenenergies: Simple model

Splitting of
variables
Triangular potential
approximation

Schrdinger
equation

Dimensionless variable

Localization length

Airy function

Building blocks for nanodevices 25

 Energy quantization is given by the roots

Quasi 2DEG

2DEG
Fermi
level

Each level generates a sub-band in the energy spectrum

Building blocks for nanodevices 26

Transverse wave functions in a triangle well

Normalized
electron
densities

Building blocks for nanodevices 27

 and
Size quantization discrete modes!

Quantized levels of transverse motion

Electron density profile

Quasi-two-dimensional
electron gas

Ions and electrons are separated and

Coulomb scattering is relatively weak
However, oxide is amorphous and the interface scattering is noticeable

Surfaces and Interfaces 28

Usage of Si-MOSFETs for digital electronics according to CMOS-
technology, as well as most important circuits for realizing logical
operations are briefly discussed in the Sec. 3.4.1.1 of the textbook.

Surfaces and Interfaces 29

 GaAs-HEMT
Typical choice interface Al0.3Ga0.7As - GaAs,
Type I alignment, conduction band of Al0.3Ga0.7As is 300 meV
higher than that one of GaAs. The top of the Al0.3Ga0.7As valence
band is 160 meV below that of GaAs.

In contrast to Si, GaAs remains undoped, and the

electrons are provided by the doping layer (Si)
inside the Al0.3Ga0.7As. This is called the
modulation doping.

Surfaces and Interfaces 30

 Why -doping is advantageous?

Scattering potential Doping

layer
2DEG

Matrix element

Backscattering is exponentially suppressed

large mobility

Building blocks for nanodevices 31

Surfaces and Interfaces 32
Advantages of GaAs-based systems:
Crystalline structure, low interface scattering;
Doped layer is rather remote from the two-dimensional
electron gas;
Very high mobility: the present record is 1440 m2/Vs,
that corresponds to the mean free path of 120 m.
Possibility to engineer band offsets by varying content
of Al. In this way one can make quantum wells.

Surfaces and Interfaces 33

 Quantum confined vs. bulk carriers

Evolution of electron
mobility over time, after
modulation doping was
introduced

After L. Pfeiffer et al., 1989.

Surfaces and Interfaces 34

Significance of various
scattering mechanisms in
Ga[Al]As HEMT

Dots experimental results for

the structure with

Surfaces and Interfaces 35

Many technological problems: lattice matching, interface
states, possibilities for modulation doping, etc.
doping of a heterostructure implemented in such way that the resulting
free electrons are spatially separated from the positive donor ions; as a
result scattering of moving electrons on the dopant atoms is avoided; aslo,
due to the separation, electrons remain free and mobile even at the very low
temperatures

The band gap engineers map

It is shown which compounds can
tolerate

Building blocks for nanodevices 36

 Other types of layered devices

Quantum wells

Surfaces and Interfaces 37

 Organic FET

pentacene

Plastic transistors
Less expensive
Mechanically soft

polythiophene

At present time such systems are just in the beginning of

the way

Surfaces and Interfaces 38

 Summary

FETs and quantum well, and other layered devices

are widely used. They are also promising for future.
Interfaces strongly influence the band structure, in
particular, dispersion laws, effective masses, etc.
Many issues are already understood, but many things
have to be done.
Organic transistors are in the beginning of their way.

Surfaces and Interfaces 39