In semiconductor physics, the photo–Dember effect (named after its discoverer

Harry Dember Harry may refer to: TV shows * ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...

) is the formation of a charge dipole in the vicinity of a semiconductor surface after ultra-fast photo-generation of charge carriers. The dipole forms owing to the difference of mobilities (or diffusion constants) for

holes A hole is an opening in or through a particular medium, usually a solid body. Holes occur through natural and artificial processes, and may be useful for various purposes, or may represent a problem needing to be addressed in many fields of en ...

and electrons which combined with the break of symmetry provided by the surface lead to an effective charge separation in the direction perpendicular to the surface. In an isolated sample, where the macroscopic flow of an electric current is prohibited, the fast carriers (often the electrons) are slowed and the slow carriers (often the holes) are accelerated by an electric field, called the Dember field. One of the main applications of the photo–Dember effect is the generation of terahertz (THz) radiation pulses for

terahertz time-domain spectroscopy In physics, terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) is a spectroscopic technique in which the properties of matter are probed with short pulses of terahertz radiation. The generation and detection scheme is sensitive to the sample's effect on ...

. This effect is present in most semiconductors but it is particularly strong in

narrow-gap semiconductor Narrow-gap semiconductors are semiconducting materials with a band gap that is comparatively small compared to that of silicon, i.e. smaller than 1.11 eV at room temperature. They are used as infrared detectors or thermoelectrics. List of narrow- ...

s (mainly arsenides and antimonides) such as

InAs Indium arsenide, InAs, or indium monoarsenide, is a narrow-bandgap semiconductor composed of indium and arsenic. It has the appearance of grey cubic crystals with a melting point of 942 °C. Indium arsenide is similar in properties to galli ...

and InSb owing to their high

electron mobility In solid-state physics, the electron mobility characterises how quickly an electron can move through a metal or semiconductor when pulled by an electric field. There is an analogous quantity for holes, called hole mobility. The term carrier mobili ...

. The photo–Dember terahertz emission should not be confused with the surface

field emission Field electron emission, also known as field emission (FE) and electron field emission, is emission of electrons induced by an electrostatic field An electric field (sometimes E-field) is the physical field that surrounds electrically charged ...

, which occurs if the surface energy bands of a semiconductor fall between its

valence Valence or valency may refer to: Science * Valence (chemistry), a measure of an element's combining power with other atoms * Degree (graph theory), also called the valency of a vertex in graph theory * Valency (linguistics), aspect of verbs rel ...

and

conduction Conductor or conduction may refer to: Music * Conductor (music), a person who leads a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra. * Conductor (album), ''Conductor'' (album), an album by indie rock band The Comas * Conduction, a type of structured f ...

bands, which produces a phenomenon known as Fermi level pinning, causing, at its time, band bending and consequently the formation of a depletion or accumulation layer close to the surface which contributes to the acceleration of charge carriers. These two effects can contribute constructively or destructively for the dipole formation depending on the direction of the band-bending.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Photo-Dember effect Semiconductors Terahertz technology Optoelectronics

See also

References