Electronic transport in nanometre-scale silicon-on-insulator membranes

Pengpeng Zhang, Emma Tevaarwerk, Byoung-Nam Park, Donald E. Savage, George K. Celler, Irena Knezevic, Paul G. Evans, Mark A. Eriksson and Max G. Lagally ()
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Pengpeng Zhang: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Emma Tevaarwerk: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Byoung-Nam Park: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Donald E. Savage: University of Wisconsin-Madison
George K. Celler: Soitec USA
Irena Knezevic: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Paul G. Evans: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Mark A. Eriksson: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Max G. Lagally: University of Wisconsin-Madison

Nature, 2006, vol. 439, issue 7077, 703-706

Abstract: Abstract The widely used ‘silicon-on-insulator’ (SOI) system consists of a layer of single-crystalline silicon supported on a silicon dioxide substrate. When this silicon layer (the template layer) is very thin, the assumption that an effectively infinite number of atoms contributes to its physical properties no longer applies, and new electronic, mechanical and thermodynamic phenomena arise1,2,3,4, distinct from those of bulk silicon. The development of unusual electronic properties with decreasing layer thickness is particularly important for silicon microelectronic devices, in which (001)-oriented SOI is often used5,6,7. Here we show—using scanning tunnelling microscopy, electronic transport measurements, and theory—that electronic conduction in thin SOI(001) is determined not by bulk dopants but by the interaction of surface or interface electronic energy levels with the ‘bulk’ band structure of the thin silicon template layer. This interaction enables high-mobility carrier conduction in nanometre-scale SOI; conduction in even the thinnest membranes or layers of Si(001) is therefore possible, independent of any considerations of bulk doping, provided that the proper surface or interface states are available to enable the thermal excitation of ‘bulk’ carriers in the silicon layer.

Date: 2006
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DOI: 10.1038/nature04501

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