Effect of Electron Scattering on Second Derivative Ballistic Electron Emission Spectroscopy in <span class="aps-inline-formula"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>Au</mi><mi>/</mi><mi>GaAs</mi><mi>/</mi><mi>AlGaAs</mi></math></span> Heterostructures

M. Kozhevnikov; V. Narayanamurti; C. Zheng; Yi-Jen Chiu; D. L. Smith

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.82.3677

Effect of Electron Scattering on Second Derivative Ballistic Electron Emission Spectroscopy in $Au / GaAs / AlGaAs$ Heterostructures

M. Kozhevnikov, V. Narayanamurti, C. Zheng, Yi-Jen Chiu, and D. L. Smith

Phys. Rev. Lett. 82, 3677 – Published 3 May 1999

Abstract

We present a quantitative study of the second voltage derivative (SD) of ballistic electron emission spectra of Au/GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures to probe the effect of electron scattering on these spectra. Our analysis of the SD spectra shows that strong electron scattering occurs at the nonepitaxial Au/GaAs interface, leading to an experimentally observed redistribution of current among the electron transport channels. We also show that the effects of hot-electron scattering inside the semiconductor modify the spectra and are sensitive to the heterojunction band structure, its geometry, and temperature.

Received 29 October 1998

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.82.3677

Authors & Affiliations

M. Kozhevnikov^*, V. Narayanamurti^†, C. Zheng, and Yi-Jen Chiu

Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106

D. L. Smith

Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545

^*Present address: Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138.
^†Present address: Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138.