1. Electrostatic landscape of a hydrogen-terminated silicon surface probed by a moveable quantum dot
- Author
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Jeremiah Croshaw, Taleana Huff, Thomas Dienel, Lucian Livadaru, Robert A. Wolkow, Roshan Achal, and Mohammad Rashidi
- Subjects
surface electrostatics ,Materials science ,Silicon ,Hydrogen ,noncontact atomic force microscopy ,dopant ,General Physics and Astronomy ,chemistry.chemical_element ,02 engineering and technology ,010402 general chemistry ,01 natural sciences ,Electric field ,Vacancy defect ,Atom ,General Materials Science ,Hydrogen-terminated silicon surface ,dangling bond ,General Engineering ,quantum dot ,021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology ,0104 chemical sciences ,kelvin probe force microscopy ,chemistry ,Chemical physics ,Quantum dot ,0210 nano-technology ,Volta potential ,hydrogen-terminated silicon - Abstract
With nanoelectronics reaching the limit of atom-sized devices, it has become critical to examine how irregularities in the local environment can affect device functionality. Here, we characterize the influence of charged atomic species on the electrostatic potential of a semiconductor surface at the subnanometer scale. Using noncontact atomic force microscopy, two-dimensional maps of the contact potential difference are used to show the spatially varying electrostatic potential on the (100) surface of hydrogen-terminated highly doped silicon. Three types of charged species, one on the surface and two within the bulk, are examined. An electric field sensitive spectroscopic signature of a single probe atom reports on nearby charged species. The identity of one of the near-surface species has been uncertain in the literature, and we suggest that its character is more consistent with either a negatively charged interstitial hydrogen or a hydrogen vacancy complex.
- Published
- 2019