Abstract
If one puts a positive point charge into a locally neutral electron plasma (electrons on the background of fixed positive cores), the electrons in the neighborhood will rearrange to compensate that additional charge; they will screen it, such that far away from the charge the electric field vanishes. The higher the electron density, the shorter the range over which electrons have to rearrange in order to establish an effective shielding. In metals with free-electron concentrations of about 1022 cm−3 the screening length is short, on the order of atomic distances. On the other hand, in semiconductors the free-carrier concentrations are usually much lower, on the order of 1017 cm−3 may be, and we thus expect much larger screening lengths, of the order of hundreds of Ångstroms. These spatial regions of redistributed screening charges are called space charge regions.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
H. Ibach, H. Lüth: Solid-State Physics, 3rd edn. (Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg 2003)
A. Many, Y. Goldstein, N.B. Grover: Semiconductor Surfaces (North Holland, Amsterdam 1965)
H. Lüth, M. Büchel, R. Dorn, M. Liehr, R. Matz: Phys. Rev. B 15, 865 (1977)
E. Veuhoff, C.D. Kohl: J. Phys. C: Solid State Phys. 14, 2395 (1981)
T. Ando, A.B. Fowler, F. Stern: Electronic properties of two-dimensional systems. Rev. Mod. Phys. 54, 437 (AIP, New York 1982)
F.J. Allen, G.W. Gobeli : Phys. Rev. 127, 152 (1962)
K.C. Pandey: Phys. Rev. Lett. 47, 1913 (1981)
M. Henzler: Phys. Status Solidi 19, 833 (1967): W. Mönch: Phys. Status Solidi 40, 257 (1970)
J. von Wienskowski, W. Mönch: Phys. Status Solidi B 45, 583 (1971): G.W. Gobeli, F.G. Allen: Surf. Sci. 2, 402 (1964)
F. Himpsel, D.E. Eastman: J. Vac. Sci. Technol. 16, 1287 (1979): W. Mönch, P. Koke, S. Krüger: J. Vac. Sci. Technol. 19, 313 (1981)
Private communication by H. Wagner (ISI, Research Center Jülich, 1988)
J.M. Nicholls, B. Reihl: Phys. Rev. B 36, 8071 (1987): F.J. Himpsel, D.E. Eastman, P. Heimann, B. Reihl, C.W. White, D.M. Zehner: Phys. Rev. B 24, 1120 (1981): P. Mårtensson, W. Ni, G. Hansson, J.M. Nicholls, B. Reihl: Phys.Rev. B 36, 5974 (1987)
P. Balk (ed.): The Si-SiO2 System, in Materials Science Monographs 32 (Elsevier, Amsterdam 1988)
H. Ibach, H.D. Bruchmann, H. Wagner: Appl. Phys. A 29, 113 (1982)
M.H. White, J.R. Cricchi: Characterization of Thin Oxide MNOS Memory Transistors, IEEE Trans. ED-19, 1280 (1972)
F.J. Grunthaner, P.J. Grunthaner, R.P. Vasquez, B.F. Lewis, J. Maserjian, A. Madhukar: J. Vac. Sci. Technol. 16, 1443 (1979)
F.J. Grunthaner, B.F. Lewis, J. Maserjian : J. Vac. Sci. Techol. 20, 747 (1982)
S.P. Svensson, J. Kanski, T.G. Andersson, P.-O. Nilsson: J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 2, 235 (1984)
A. Förster, H. Lüth: Surf. Sci. 189/190, 307 (1987)
K. Smit, L. Koenders, W. Mönch: J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 7, 888 (1989)
I. Mahboob, T.D. Veal, C.F. McConville: Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 036804–1 (2004)
P.D.C. King, T.D. Veal, P.H. Jefferson, S.A. Hatfield, L.F.J. Piper, C.F. McConville, F. Fuchs, J. Furthmüller, F. Bechstedt, Hai Lu, W.J. Schaff: Phys. Rev. B 77, 045316 (2008)
H. Moormann, D. Kohl, G. Heiland: Surf. Sci. 80, 261 (1979)
G. Heiland, H. Lüth: Adsorption on oxides, in The Chemical Physics of Solid Surfaces and Heterogeneous Catalysis, Vol.3, ed. by D.A. King, D.P. Woodruff (Elsevier, Amsterdam 1984) p. 137
G. Heiland, P. Kunstmann: Surf. Sci. 13, 72 (1969)
D. Kahng, M.M. Atalla: Silicon-Silicon Dioxide Field Induced Surface Devices, IRE Solid State Device Res. Conf., Carnegie Institute of Technology, Pittsburgh, Pa., 1960: D. Kahng: A Historical Perspective on the Development of MOS Transistors and Related Devices, IEEE Trans. ED-23, 655 (1976)
H.C. Pao, C.T. Sah: “Effects of diffusion current on characteristics of metaloxide (insulator) semiconductor transistors (MOST)”, Solid State Electron. 9, 927 (1966)
S.M. Sze: Physics of Semiconductor Devices, 2nd edn. (Wiley, New York 1981) p.431
A. Kamgar, P. Kneschaurek, G. Dorda, J.F. Koch: Phys. Rev. Lett. 32, 1251 (1974)
A.B. Fowler, F.F. Fang, W.E. Howard, P.J. Stiles: Phys. Rev. Lett. 16, 901 (1966)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Lüth, H. (2010). Space-Charge Layers at Semiconductor Inferfaces. In: Solid Surfaces, Interfaces and Thin Films. Graduate Texts in Physics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-13592-7_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-13592-7_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-13591-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-13592-7
eBook Packages: Physics and AstronomyPhysics and Astronomy (R0)