skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Hall and Seebeck measurements estimate the thickness of a (buried) carrier system: Identifying interface electrons in In-doped SnO{sub 2} films

Journal Article · · Applied Physics Letters
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4938471· OSTI ID:22486271
;  [1]; ;  [2];  [3]
  1. Paul-Drude-Institut für Festkörperelektronik, Hausvogteiplatz 5-7, D-10117 Berlin (Germany)
  2. Materials Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106 (United States)
  3. Leibniz-Institut für Kristallzüchtung, Max-Born-Straße 2, D-12489 Berlin (Germany)

We propose a simple method based on the combination of Hall and Seebeck measurements to estimate the thickness of a carrier system within a semiconductor film. As an example, this method can distinguish “bulk” carriers, with homogeneous depth distribution, from “sheet” carriers, that are accumulated within a thin layer. The thickness of the carrier system is calculated as the ratio of the integral sheet carrier concentration, extracted from Hall measurements, to the volume carrier concentration, derived from the measured Seebeck coefficient of the same sample. For rutile SnO{sub 2}, the necessary relation of Seebeck coefficient to volume electron concentration in the range of 3 × 10{sup 17} to 3 × 10{sup 20 }cm{sup −3} has been experimentally obtained from a set of single crystalline thin films doped with varying Sb-doping concentrations and unintentionally doped bulk samples, and is given as a “calibration curve.” Using this calibration curve, our method demonstrates the presence of interface electrons in homogeneously deep-acceptor (In) doped SnO{sub 2} films on sapphire substrates.

OSTI ID:
22486271
Journal Information:
Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 107, Issue 25; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English