Peculiarities of the electron field emission from quantum-size structures

The electron field emission from semiconductor based layered structures has been investigated. Among studied structures were silicon tips coated with ultra-thin DLC layer, multilayer structures Si–SiO2–Si∗–SiO2 with delta-doped Si∗ layer, nanocomposite layers SiOxNy(Si) with Si nanocrystals embedded in SiOxNy matrix, GaN layers and Si–SiGe heterostructures. All of them have such peculiarities of electron field emission as peaks on emission current–voltage characteristics and corresponding Fowler–Nordheim plots. A physical model is proposed for explanation of experimental results. All emitters have layer, cluster wire or dot with quantum-size restriction in it. As a result, the quantum well with splitted electron levels exists or appears at electric field. Additional mechanism of electron emission-resonance tunneling is realized at definite electric fields.