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Carrier Tunneling, Current Instabilities, and Negative Differential Conductivity in Nanocrystalline Silicon – Silicon Dioxide Superlattices

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2011

B. V. Kamenev ,
G. F. Grom ,
D. J. Lockwood ,
J. P. McCaffrey ,
B. Laikhtman  and
L. Tsybeskov
B. V. Kamenev
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, University Heights, Newark, New Jersey 07102
G. F. Grom
Affiliation:
Agere Systems, Alhambra, CA 91030
D. J. Lockwood
Affiliation:
Institute for Microstructural Sciences, National Research Council, Ottawa, Canada K1A0R6
J. P. McCaffrey
Affiliation:
Institute for Microstructural Sciences, National Research Council, Ottawa, Canada K1A0R6
B. Laikhtman
Affiliation:
Racah Institute of Physics, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
L. Tsybeskov
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, University Heights, Newark, New Jersey 07102
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Abstract

Low temperature measurements of differential conductivity in nanocrystalline Si – amorphous SiO2 superlattices surprisingly reveal a clear double-peak structure associated with tunneling via levels of light and heavy holes. Numerical simulations show not only detailed agreement with the experiment but also predict that the studied system has no stable solutions for carrier concentration higher than 1017 cm−3. According to this prediction, partial screening of the external electric field generates current instabilities and oscillations, and that is experimentally observed. The developed model also suggests that a more uniform electric field and stabilization of carrier transport at a higher level of carrier density can be achieved under transient carrier injection.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 737 , 2002 , F11.6
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2003

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References

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