J. J. Garramone

Measurement of the hot electron attenuation length of copper

Ballistic electron emission microscopy is utilized to investigate the hot-electron scattering properties of Cu through Cu/Si(001) Schottky diodes. A Schottky barrier height of 0.64±0.02 eV and a hot-electron attenuation length of 33.4±2.9 nm are measured at a tip bias of 1.0 eV and a temperature of 80 K. The dependence of the attenuation length with tip bias is fit to a Fermi liquid model that allows extraction of the inelastic and elastic scattering components. This modeling indicates that elastic scattering due to defects, grain boundaries, and interfaces is the dominant scattering mechanism in this energy range.

Hot-electron transport studies of the Ag/Si(001) interface using ballistic electron emission microscopy

Ballistic electron emission microscopy has been utilized to investigate the hot-electron transport properties of the Ag/Si(001) Schottky diode utilizing metal films deposited both in situ and ex situ. The Schottky barrier heights are measured to be 0.57±0.02 and 0.59±0.02 eV for the ex situ and in situ depositions, respectively. The metal overlayers demonstrate typical Volmer–Weber growth when deposited on the Si(001) semiconducting substrate, as seen in the scanning tunneling microscopy images. An enhancement in hot-electron transmission is measured for the in situ deposited metal films when compared to the ex situ films.

Hot electron transport studies of the Cu/Si(001) interface using ballistic electron emission microscopy

The hot electron transport properties of the Cu/Si(001) interface have been studied using ballistic electron emission microscopy (BEEM). The Schottky barrier height was measured to be 0.64±0.02 eV. The scanning tunneling microscopy images provide evidence of Volmer–Weber growth of the metal, while Rutherford backscattering spectrometry data corroborated with Auger depth profiling indicate distinct Cu and Si regions with little intermixing. Comparison with Au/Si(001) BEEM data provides some insight into the hot electron transport and scattering properties of the Cu/Si(001) interface.

Signatures of the semiconductor crystallographic orientation on the charge transport across non-epitaxial diodes

The hot electron attenuation length of Ag is measured utilizing ballistic electron emission microscopy on nanoscale Schottky diodes for Si(001) and Si(111) substrates. Marked differences in the attenuation length are observed at biases near the Schottky barrier depending upon the substrate orientation, increasing by an order of magnitude only for Si(001). These results provide clear evidence that the crystallographic orientation of the semiconductor substrate and parallel momentum conservation affect the charge transport across these interfaces. A theoretical model reproduces the effect that combines a free-electron description within the metal with an ab-initio description of the electronic structure of the semiconductor.

Temperature dependent spin precession measurements in trilayer graphene utilizing co/graphene contacts

The temperature dependence of the spin lifetime and spin diffusion coefficient of exfoliated multilayer graphene is measured using nonlocal spin detection and spin precession measurements. Low impedance cobalt contacts are utilized for spin injection and readout. A decrease in spin lifetime with increasing temperature is observed as well as an increase in the spin diffusion coefficient with increasing temperature. This observation provides some insight into the relevant spin relaxation mechanisms that are occurring in this trilayer graphene sample.

Schottky barrier and attenuation length for hot hole injection in nonepitaxial Au on p-type GaAs

Ballistic electron emission microscopy (BEEM) was performed to obtain current versus bias characteristics of nonepitaxial nanometer-thick Au on p-type GaAs in order to accurately measure the local Schottky barrier height. Hole injection BEEM data were averaged from thousands of spectra for various Au film thicknesses and then used to determine the attenuation length of the energetic charge carriers as a function of tip bias. The authors report an increase in attenuation length at biases near the Schottky barrier, providing evidence for the existence of coherent BEEM currents in Schottky diodes. These results provide additional evidence for the conservation of the parallel momentum of charge carriers at the metal–semiconductor interface.

Studies of Al2O3 barriers for use in tunnel junctions for nonlocal spin detection experiments

Aluminum oxide films were grown on Si under ultrahigh vacuum conditions for use as tunnel barriers in spin injection studies. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was performed to characterize the film stoichiometry. It was observed that all the aluminum was bonded to the oxygen for the films grown in 1 nm steps. Whereas the 2 nm sample grown in one 2 nm step left a partially unoxidized aluminum film. Current-voltage measurements were performed and fitted to a tunnel model. The resistance area products fall within the range needed for spin injection and nonlocal readout.