Electronic and Optical Properties of Dislocations in Silicon
Dislocations exhibit a number of exceptional electronic properties resulting in a significant increase of the drain current of metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) if defined numbers of these defects are placed in the channel. Measurements on individual dislocations in Si ref...
Main Authors: | , |
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
MDPI AG
2016-06-01
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Series: | Crystals |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4352/6/7/74 |
Summary: | Dislocations exhibit a number of exceptional electronic properties resulting in a significant increase of the drain current of metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) if defined numbers of these defects are placed in the channel. Measurements on individual dislocations in Si refer to a supermetallic conductivity. A model of the electronic structure of dislocations is proposed based on experimental measurements and tight binding simulations. It is shown that the high strain level on the dislocation core—exceeding 10% or more—causes locally dramatic changes of the band structure and results in the formation of a quantum well along the dislocation line. This explains experimental findings (two-dimensional electron gas and single-electron transitions). The energy quantization within the quantum well is most important for supermetallic conductivity. |
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ISSN: | 2073-4352 |