Resonant tunneling in partially disordered silicon nanostructures

L Tsybeskov, G F Grom, R Krishnan, L Montes, P M Fauchet, D Kovalev, J Diener, V Timoshenko, F Koch, J P McCaffrey, J M Baribeau, G I Sproule, D J Lockwood, Y M Niquet, C Delerue, G Allan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

39 Citations (SciVal)

Abstract

Low-temperature vertical carrier transport in layered structures comprised of Si nanocrystals separated in the growth direction by angstrom-thick SiO2 layers exhibits entirely unexpected, well-defined resonances in conductivity. An unusual alternating current ( ac) conductivity dependence on frequency and low magnetic field, negative differential conductivity, reproducible N-shaped switching and self-oscillations were observed consistently. The modeled conductivity mechanism is associated with resonant hole tunneling via quantized valence band states of Si nanocrystals. Tight-binding calculations of the quantum confinement effect for different Si nanocrystal sizes and shapes strongly support the tunneling model.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)552-558
Number of pages7
JournalEPL (Europhysics Letters)
Volume55
Issue number4
Publication statusPublished - 2001

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