Issue |
Europhys. Lett.
Volume 74, Number 4, May 2006
|
|
---|---|---|
Page(s) | 686 - 692 | |
Section | Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1209/epl/i2006-10018-8 | |
Published online | 05 April 2006 |
Transport localization in heterogeneous Schottky barriers of quantum-defined metal films
1
CNR-IMM - Stradale Primosole 50, 95121 Catania, Italy
2
STMicroelectronics - Stradale Primosole 50, 95121 Catania, Italy
Received:
30
January
2006
Accepted:
10
March
2006
The nanometric localization of current transport in heterogeneous Schottky barriers was obtained by the combination of the electric field localization at the apex of a biased conductive atomic force microscopy (c-AFM) tip and of the metal films high-resistivity properties. An abrupt increase of the resistivity, modeled by a quantum-mechanical approach, was measured in Au thin films with a thickness below . For Au ultrathin film resistivity, exceeding by two orders of magnitude the bulk value, the nanometric localization of the current transport occurs. This physical effect represents the basic principle of a microscopy approch for two-dimensional Schottky barrier height mapping, which is alternative to conventional ballistic electron emission microscopy (BEEM). A spatial resolution in the order of the tip diameter (10–
) is demonstrated by considering the realistic description of the system (physical and geometrical). Schottky barrier inhomogeneities in a Au/4H-SiC system were imaged with an energy resolution better than
.
PACS: 73.30.+y – Surface double layers, Schottky barriers, and work functions / 73.50.-h – Electronic transport phenomena in thin films / 07.79.Lh – Atomic force microscopes
© EDP Sciences, 2006
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