Four-dimensional imaging of carrier interface dynamics in p-n junctions
Abstract
Diodes are central components of modern electronic circuits. They essentially consist of two semiconductors sandwiched together, with one deficient in electrons (p), the other enriched (n). Najafi et al. used ultrafast electron microscopy to study the dynamics in a silicon diode on a time scale of trillionths of a second. They discovered that when light excites the diode's charge carriers, those carriers migrate much farther past the p-n junction than standard models would imply. The authors explain the results using a ballistic transport model.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Jan 09, 2015
- Source ID
- 10.1126/science.aaa0217
Entities
People
- Ahmed Zewail
- Ebrahim Najafi
- Jau Tang
- Timothy D. Scarborough
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- California Institute of Technology
- Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
- National Chiao Tung University
- National Science Foundation