This review covers important advances in recent years in the physics of thin-film ferroelectric oxides, the strongest emphasis being on those aspects particular to ferroelectrics in thin-film form. The authors introduce the current state of development in the application of ferroelectric thin films for electronic devices and discuss the physics relevant for the performance and failure of these devices. Following this the review covers the enormous progress that has been made in the first-principles computational approach to understanding ferroelectrics. The authors then discuss in detail the important role that strain plays in determining the properties of epitaxial thin ferroelectric films. Finally, this review ends with a look at the emerging possibilities for nanoscale ferroelectrics, with particular emphasis on ferroelectrics in nonconventional nanoscale geometries.

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Physics of thin-film ferroelectric oxides

Electronic conduction in thermally grown SiO2 has been shown to be limited by Fowler‐Nordheim emission, i.e., tunneling of electrons from the vicinity of the electrode Fermi level through the forbidden energy gap into the conduction band of the oxide. Fowler‐Nordheim characteristics have been observed over more than five decades of current for emission from Si, Al, and Mg. If previously measured values of the barrier heights are used, the slopes of the Fowler‐Nordheim characteristics (log J/E2 vs 1/E) imply values of the relative effective mass in the forbidden band of about 0.4. These values take into account corrections for image‐force barrier lowering and for temperature effects. The absolute values of the currents are lower by a factor of five to ten than the theoretically expected values, probably due to trapping effects. The temperature dependence of the current was found to follow the theoretical curve from 80°–420°K. However, an inconsistent relative effective mass of about 0.95 had to be assumed....

Fowler‐Nordheim Tunneling into Thermally Grown SiO2

Field emission and thermionic-field (T-F) emission are considered as the phenomena responsible for the excess currents observed both in the forward and reverse directions of Schottky barriers formed on highly doped semiconductors. Voltage-current characteristics are derived for field and thermionic-field emission in the forward and reverse regime. The temperatures and voltages where these phenomena are predominent for a given diode are discussed. Comparison with experimental results on GaAs and Si diodes shows good agreement between theory and experiments.

Field and thermionic-field emission in Schottky barriers

Field Emission Energy Distribution (FEED)

Field emission (FE) is based on the physical phenomenon of quantum tunneling, in which electrons are injected from the surface of materials into vacuum under the influence of an applied electric field. A variety of field emission cold cathode materials have been developed to date. In this review, we shall focus on several kinds of novel cold cathode materials that have been developed in the past decade. These include materials for microfabricated field-emitter arrays, diamond and related films, carbon nanotubes, other quasi one-dimensional nanomaterials and printable composite materials. In addition, cold cathode materials have a wide range of applications such as in flat panel displays, high-power vacuum electronic devices, microwave-generation devices, vacuum microelectronic devices and vacuum nanoelectronic devices. Applications are in consumer goods, military industries and also space technology. A comprehensive overview of the various applications is presented. Recently, recognizing the strong possibility that vacuum nanoelectronic devices using quasi one-dimensional nanomaterials, such as carbon nanotubes may emit electrons with driving voltages comparable to that of a solid-state device, there is a growing interest in novel applications of such devices. With such exciting opportunities, there is now a flurry of activities to explore applications far beyond those considered for the conventional hot cathodes that operate on thermionic emission. We shall discuss the details of a number of fascinating potential applications.

Novel cold cathode materials and applications

Although the theories of thermionic and field emission of electrons from metals are very well understood, the two types of emission have usually been studied separately by first specifying the range of temperature and field and then constructing the appropriate expression for the current. In this paper the emission is treated from a unified point of view in order to establish the ranges of temperature and field for the two types of emission and to investigate the current in the region intermediate between thermionic and field emission. A general expression for the emitted current as a function of field, temperature, and work function is set up in the form of a definite integral. Each type of emission is then associated with a technique for approximating the integral and with a characteristic dependence on the three parameters. An approximation for low fields and high temperatures leads to an extension of the Richardson-Schottky formula for thermionic emission. The values of temperature and field for which it applies are established by considering the validity of the approximation. An analogous treatment of the integral, for high fields and low temperatures, gives an extension of the Fowler-Nordheim formula for field emission, and establishes the region of temperature and field in which it applies. Also another approximate method for evaluating the integral is given which leads to a new type of dependence of the emitted current on temperature and field and which applies in a narrow region of temperature and field intermediate between the field and thermionic emission regions.

E. L. Murphy

Papers

Thermionic Emission, Field Emission, and the Transition Region