The dependence of the barrier height of metal-semiconductor systems upon the metal work function is derived based on the following assumptions: (1) the contact between the metal and the semiconductor has an interfacial layer of the order of atomic dimensions; it is further assumed that this layer is transparent to electrons with energy greater than the potential barrier but can withstand potential across it. (2) The surface state density (per unit area per electron volt) at the interface is a property only of the semiconductor surface and is independent of the metal. The barrier height φВn is defined here as the energy needed by an electron at the Fermi level in the metal to enter the conduction band of the semiconductor.

Surface States and Barrier Height of Metal‐Semiconductor Systems

In very small electronic devices the alternate capture and emission of carriers at an individual defect site generates discrete switching in the device resistance—referred to as a random telegraph signal (RTS) The study of RTSs has provided a powerful means of investigating the capture and emission kinetics of single defects, has demonstrated the defect origins of low-frequency (1/ƒ) noise in these devices, and has provided new insight into the nature of defects at the Si/SiO2 interface

Noise in solid-state microstructures: A new perspective on individual defects, interface states and low-frequency (1/ƒ) noise

Thin layers of insulators, from 100 A to 20 000 A thick, have a number of interesting electrical properties. These properties include forming, which is a profound and essentially permanent change produced by an electrical field, and, after forming, differential negative resistance together with switching and memory phenomena. Electroluminescence and electron emission also occur. These features are shown by most amorphous or microcrystalline insulators of the appropriate thickness, and are particularly clearly shown by the oxides, such as Al2O3, Ta2O5 and SiO. In our review we survey the observed properties of metal-insulator-metal devices involving such insulating layers, and discuss the mechanisms which have been proposed for their operation. Further, since the unusual properties may be technologically important, we outline some of the possible uses of these devices and the relevance of the phenomena to the mechanism of corrosion of certain metals.

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Electrical phenomena in amorphous oxide films

Piezoresistive sensors are among the earliest micromachined silicon devices. The need for smaller, less expensive, higher performance sensors helped drive early micromachining technology, a precursor to microsystems or microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). The effect of stress on doped silicon and germanium has been known since the work of Smith at Bell Laboratories in 1954. Since then, researchers have extensively reported on microscale, piezoresistive strain gauges, pressure sensors, accelerometers, and cantilever force/displacement sensors, including many commercially successful devices. In this paper, we review the history of piezoresistance, its physics and related fabrication techniques. We also discuss electrical noise in piezoresistors, device examples and design considerations, and alternative materials. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of integrated piezoresistor technology with an introduction to the physics of piezoresistivity, process and material selection and design guidance useful to researchers and device engineers.

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Review: Semiconductor Piezoresistance for Microsystems

Diffraction patterns obtained from atomically clean germanium surfaces contained half‐integral order beams in (110) azimuths for both (100) and (110) surfaces and in all azimuths for the (111) surface. These results are considered to be due to displacements of surface atoms from their normal bulk lattice positions in the surface plane. Adsorption of oxygen on all of these surfaces extinguished all of the diffraction beams which were not integral order.In addition to the normal surface lattice spacings of clean (111) and (100) surfaces of silicon, there were surface structures with larger spacings, most of which depended on the conditions of ion bombardment and/or subsequent heat treatment. Two such structures have been observed for the (100) surface of silicon; one is a double‐spaced lattice in the (110) azimuth, similar to that for germanium, and the other has a spacing about 8% greater than that of normal silicon and was obtained only after radiation quenching of the crystal from 1000°C. Two large‐spaced structures were observed for the (111) surface. All of these structures were extinguished by exposure to oxygen. Evidence is presented which indicates that these structures were not due to contamination but to the silicon itself.The method of determining the kinetics of gas adsorption from the low‐energy electron diffraction beams is outlined and the calculations of the fractional coverage and sticking probability are presented for oxygen. For silicon crystals, the calculations of surface coverages and sticking coefficients for oxygen were found to depend on the preceding treatments of the crystals. The rate of adsorption of oxygen was proportional to the pressure, at least for pressures below 10‐6 mm Hg, and depended on the preceding treatments of the crystals. After oxygen adsorption, the clean germanium surface could be regenerated by heating at 500°C for 30 min and for silicon it was regenerated by heating at 900°C for a few minutes. A comparison with results of other observers is given.

Structure and Adsorption Characteristics of Clean Surfaces of Germanium and Silicon

Semiconductor surface physics

In the best of all possible worlds, we would have the ideal photon detector, a device that caught a photon, gave an unambiguous meter reading and kept count of the number of events. In the real world, these ideal devices do not exist; competing events both outside and inside the detector confuse the true measure of the photons that we are trying to monitor. Phenomena such as quantum noise, “dark” current and background radiation interfere to a degree that depends on the intensity of the signal being measured and on the photon frequency, to mention only a few of the experimental parameters.

Robert Hildreth Kingston

Papers

Semiconductor surface physics

A look at photon detectors