Final published version
Licence: CC BY: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Direct observation and manipulation of hot electrons at room temperature
AU - Wang, H.
AU - Wang, F.
AU - Xia, H.
AU - Wang, P.
AU - Li, T.
AU - Li, J.
AU - Wang, Z.
AU - Sun, J.
AU - Wu, P.
AU - Ye, J.
AU - Zhuang, Q.
AU - Yang, Z.
AU - Fu, L.
AU - Hu, W.
AU - Chen, X.
AU - Lu, W.
PY - 2021/9/30
Y1 - 2021/9/30
N2 - In modern electronics and optoelectronics, hot electron behaviors are highly concerned, as they determine the performance limit of a device or system, like the associated thermal or power constraint of chips and the Shockley-Queisser limit for solar cell efficiency. To date, however, the manipulation of hot electrons has been mostly based on conceptual interpretations rather than a direct observation. The problem arises from a fundamental fact that energy-differential electrons are mixed up in real-space, making it hard to distinguish them from each other by standard measurements. Here we demonstrate a distinct approach to artificially (spatially) separate hot electrons from cold ones in semiconductor nanowire transistors, which thus offers a unique opportunity to observe and modulate electron occupied state, energy, mobility and even path. Such a process is accomplished through the scanning-photocurrent-microscopy measurements by activating the intervalley-scattering events and 1D charge-neutrality rule. Findings here may provide a new degree of freedom in manipulating non-equilibrium electrons for both electronic and optoelectronic applications.
AB - In modern electronics and optoelectronics, hot electron behaviors are highly concerned, as they determine the performance limit of a device or system, like the associated thermal or power constraint of chips and the Shockley-Queisser limit for solar cell efficiency. To date, however, the manipulation of hot electrons has been mostly based on conceptual interpretations rather than a direct observation. The problem arises from a fundamental fact that energy-differential electrons are mixed up in real-space, making it hard to distinguish them from each other by standard measurements. Here we demonstrate a distinct approach to artificially (spatially) separate hot electrons from cold ones in semiconductor nanowire transistors, which thus offers a unique opportunity to observe and modulate electron occupied state, energy, mobility and even path. Such a process is accomplished through the scanning-photocurrent-microscopy measurements by activating the intervalley-scattering events and 1D charge-neutrality rule. Findings here may provide a new degree of freedom in manipulating non-equilibrium electrons for both electronic and optoelectronic applications.
KW - hot electrons
KW - valley transfer
KW - photogating
KW - scanning photocurrent mapping
U2 - 10.1093/nsr/nwaa295
DO - 10.1093/nsr/nwaa295
M3 - Journal article
VL - 8
JO - National Science Review
JF - National Science Review
IS - 9
M1 - nwaa295
ER -