Experimental test of the planar tunneling model for ballistic electron emission spectroscopy

Abstract

Using planar theory of ballistic electron emission spectroscopy with the addition of scattering at the metal-semiconductor interface, we calculate an expected change in the ratio of the collector current (I_c) to the tunnel current (I_t) as I_t is varied in the well-known system Au/GaAs(100). This alternative spectroscopy is performed experimentally and is shown to differ drastically from the theory, which nevertheless agrees well with standard voltage spectroscopy. From this discrepancy, we question the applicability of one-dimensional (1D) planar theory to an inherently 3D system.