Metal oxide semiconductor inversion layer

Figure Bl.22.4. Differential IR absorption spectra from a metal-oxide silicon field-effect transistor (MOSFET) as a fiinction of gate voltage (or inversion layer density, n, which is the parameter reported in the figure). Clear peaks are seen in these spectra for the 0-1, 0-2 and 0-3 inter-electric-field subband transitions that develop for charge carriers when confined to a narrow (<100 A) region near the oxide-semiconductor interface. The inset shows a schematic representation of the attenuated total reflection (ATR) arrangement used in these experiments. These data provide an example of the use of ATR IR spectroscopy for the probing of electronic states in semiconductor surfaces [44]-...

It is, of course, well known that metal-semiconductor interfaces frequently have rectifier characteristics. It is significant, however, that this characteristic has been confirmed specifically for systems that have been used as inverse supported catalysts, including the system NiO on Ag described above as catalyst for CO-oxidation. In the experimental approach taken, nickel was evaporated onto a silver electrode and then oxidized in oxygen. A space charge-free counter-electrode was then evaporated onto the nickel oxide layer, and the resulting sandwich structure was annealed. The electrical characteristic of this structure is represented in Fig. 8. The abscissa (U) is the applied potential the ordi-... 

To determine the effect of oxidation, a Mott-Schottky plot of the space charge capacitance before and after oxidation was compared. In these plots, which were originally derived for a metal-semiconductor interface (Schottky [ 1939,1942], Mott [1939]) but hold equally well for the metal-electrolyte interface, a linear relationship is predicted between the applied potential and one over the square of the capacitance arising from the space charge layer in the saniconductor. The slope is inversely proportional to the effective donor or acceptor concentration in the semiconductor. For the semiconductor-electrolyte interface (Bard and Faulkner [1980]),... 

The photoproduction and subsequent separation of electron-hole pairs in the depletion layer cause the Fermi level in the semiconductor to return toward its original position before the semiconductor-electrolyte junction was established, i.e., under illumination the semiconductor potential is driven toward its flat-band potential. Under open circuit conditions between an illuminated semiconductor electrode and a metal counter electrode, the photovoltage produced between the electrodes is equal to the difference between the Fermi level in the semiconductor and the redox potential of the electrolyte. Under close circuit conditions, the Fermi level in the system is equalized and no photovoltage exists between the two electrodes. However, a net charge flow does exist. Photogenerated minority carriers in the semiconductor are swept to the surface where they are subsequently injected into the electrolyte to drive a redox reaction. For n-type semiconductors, minority holes are injected to produce an anodic oxidation reaction, while for p-type semiconductors, minority electrons are injected to produce a cathodic reduction reaction. The photo-generated majority carriers in both cases are swept toward the semiconductor bulk, where they subsequently leave the semiconductor via an ohmic contact, traverse an external circuit to the counter electrode, and are then injected at the counter electrode to drive a redox reaction inverse to that occurring at the semiconductor electrode. 

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