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Highly transmittive semiconductor base for ballistic electron emission microscopy
Author(s) -
Heer R.,
Smoliner J.,
Strasser G.,
Gornik E.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
surface and interface analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.52
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1096-9918
pISSN - 0142-2421
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1096-9918(199905/06)27:5/6<517::aid-sia499>3.0.co;2-4
Subject(s) - molecular beam epitaxy , materials science , heterojunction , transmission electron microscopy , optoelectronics , semiconductor , epitaxy , layer (electronics) , condensed matter physics , nanotechnology , physics
In this work we introduce a molecular beam epitaxy(MBE)‐grown InAs layer as base in ballistic electronemission spectroscopy/microscopy (BEES/BEEM).Compared to the commonly used thin metal film as base, thetransmission coefficient and the attenuation length can be enhancedby more than one order of magnitude. At low temperatures ( T =100 K), a passivated InAs layer yields an attenuationlength of the order of 70–90 nm, instead of the 5 nm obtainedon Au films. This feature makes InAs a promising new base materialfor BEEM. To clarify the mechanism of this behaviour,temperature‐dependent BEEM studies on InAs–GaAsheterostructures were performed. Unlike samples with metal baselayers, it is found that the transmission coefficient of the InAsbase decreases with decreasing temperature. In addition, a stronglyincreasing conduction band offset at the InAs/GaAs interface withdecreasing temperature is observed. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley& Sons, Ltd.