Time-Resolved Single Dopant Charge Dynamics in Silicon

Abstract

As the ultimate miniaturization of semiconductor devices approaches, it is imperative that the effects of single dopants be clarified. Beyond providing insight into functions and limitations of conventional devices, such information enables identification of new device concepts. Investigating single dopants requires sub-nanometre spatial resolution, making scanning tunnelling microscopy an ideal tool. However, dopant dynamics involve processes occurring at nanosecond timescales, posing a significant challenge to experiment. Here we use time-resolved scanning tunnelling microscopy and spectroscopy to probe and study transport through a dangling bond on silicon before the system relaxes or adjusts to accommodate an applied electric field. Atomically resolved, electronic pump-probe scanning tunnelling microscopy permits unprecedented, quantitative measurement of time-resolved single dopant ionization dynamics. Tunnelling through the surface dangling bond makes measurement of a signal that would otherwise be too weak to detect feasible. Distinct ionization and neutralization rates of a single dopant are measured and the physical process controlling those are identified.

References in corpus (4)

• Atom-by-Atom Substitution of Mn in GaAs and Visualization of their Hole-Mediated Interactions
• Scanning tunneling spectroscopy reveals a silicon dangling bond charge state transition
• Versatile scanning tunneling microscopy with 120ps time resolution
• Spatially resolved resonant tunneling on single atoms in silicon

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