Tunneling cross section, inelastic

There is a growing tendency to invoke surface states to explain electron transfer at semiconductor-electrolyte interfaces. Too frequently the discussion of surface states is qualitative with no attempt to make quantitative estimates of the rate of surface state reactions or to measure any of the properties of these surface states. This article summarizes earlier work in which charge transfer at the semiconductor-electrolyte interface is analyzed as inelastic capture by surface states of charge carriers in the semiconductor bands at the surface. This approach is shown to be capable of explaining the experimental results within the context of established semiconductor behavior without tunneling or impurity conduction in the bandgap. Methods for measuring the density and cross section of surface states in different circumstances are discussed. 

Figure 8. Inelastic tunneling cross section, from the theory of Kirtley, Scalapino, and Hansma (KSH), for a point dipole as a function of position in a ISA thick barrier, for 3 different vibrational energy losses. One electrode is taken to be at OA,...

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