Manifestation of size quantization on protrusions of a rough A3B5 semiconductor surface

Abstract

Field-electron emission from submicron protrusions of a rough surface of A 3 B 5 semiconductors, including InSb, InAs, and GaAs, has been experimentally investigated. It is shown that the observed peaks in differential tunnel I-V characteristics of the InSb and InAs semiconductor samples can be interpreted as a manifestation of the size quantization of the conduction electron energy spectrum. In GaAs, manifestation of the size quantization in differential tunnel I-V characteristics was not experimentally found. Using the experimental data, the characteristic size of a quantum object formed on protrusions of the rough InSb and InAs surface is determined.