Non-contact electrical detection of intrinsic local charge and internal electric field at nanointerfaces

TL;DR

This paper introduces a non-contact electrical measurement method using Auger electron spectroscopy to detect local charge and electric fields at nanointerfaces with high resolution, enabling detailed characterization of nanostructured materials.

Contribution

It presents a novel Auger electron spectroscopy-based technique for non-contact, high-resolution detection of intrinsic charge and electric fields at nanointerfaces, overcoming previous technical limitations.

Findings

Achieved detection resolution below 10 nm.

Accurately measured polarization sheet charge density of -4.4 e/nm^2.

Mapped internal electric fields revealing energy band configurations.

Abstract

A nanoscale non-contact electrical measurement has been developed based on Auger electron spectroscopy. This approach used the speciality of Auger electron, which is self-generated and free from external influences, to overcome the technical limitations of conventional measurements. The detections of the intrinsic local charge and internal electric field for nanostructured materials were achieved with resolution below 10 nm. As an example, the electrical properties at the GaN/AlGaN/GaN nanointerfaces were characterized. The concentration of the intrinsic polarization sheet charges embedded in GaN/AlGaN nanointerfacial layers were accurately detected to be -4.4 e/nm^2. The mapping of internal electric field across the nanointerface revealed the actual energy band configuration at the early stage of the formation of two-dimensional electron gas.