Gate-induced ionization of single dopant atoms

TL;DR

This paper investigates how a nearby gate influences ionization of a single dopant atom in a semiconductor, revealing two regimes of electron transfer—gradual and abrupt—using a variational solution of the Schrödinger equation.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of gate-induced ionization regimes of single dopant atoms, modeling the dopant as a hydrogen-like impurity and solving the Schrödinger equation variationally.

Findings

Electron transfer can be either gradual or abrupt depending on dopant-gate separation.

Two distinct regimes of gate-induced ionization are identified.

The study advances understanding of atomic-scale electronic control.

Abstract

Gate-induced wave function manipulation of a single dopant atom is a possible basis of atomic scale electronics. From this perspective, we analyzed the effect of a small nearby gate on a single dopant atom in a semiconductor up to field ionization. The dopant is modelled as a hydrogen-like impurity and the Schrodinger equation is solved by a variational method. We find that--depending on the separation of the dopant and the gate--the electron transfer is either gradual or abrupt, defining two distinctive regimes for the gate-induced ionization process.