Staircase and saw-tooth field emission steps from nanopatterned n-type GaSb surfaces
- Department of Physics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), NO-7491 Trondlieim (Norway)
High resolution field emission experiments from nanopatterned GaSb surfaces consisting of densely packed nanocones prepared by low ion-beam-energy sputtering are presented. Both uncovered and metal-covered nanopatterned surfaces were studied. Surprisingly, the field emission takes place by regular steps in the field emitted current. Depending on the field, the steps are either regular, flat, plateaus, or saw-tooth shaped. To the author's knowledge, this is the first time that such results have been reported. Each discrete jump in the field emission may be understood in terms of resonant tunneling through an extended surface space charge region in an n-type, high aspect ratio, single GaSb nanocone. The staircase shape may be understood from the spatial distribution of the aspect ratio of the cones.
- OSTI ID:
- 22051010
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology. A, International Journal Devoted to Vacuum, Surfaces, and Films, Vol. 27, Issue 5; Other Information: (c) 2009 American Vacuum Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1553-1813
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Numerical simulation of operation modes in atmospheric pressure uniform barrier discharge excited by a saw-tooth voltage
Periodicity staircase in a centrosymmetric Fe/Gd magnetic thin film system