Measurement of the band gap by reflection electron energy loss spectroscopy

Maarten Vos*, Sean W. King, Benjamin L. French

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    47 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    We investigate the possibilities of measuring the band gap of a variety of semiconductors and insulators by reflection electron energy loss spectroscopy without additional surface preparation. The band gap is a bulk property, whereas reflection energy loss spectroscopy is generally considered a surface sensitive technique. By changing the energy of the incoming electrons, the degree of surface sensitivity can be varied. Here, we present case studies to determine the optimum condition for the determination of the band gap. At very large incoming electron energies recoil effects interfere with the band gap determination, whereas at very low energies surface effects are obscuring the band gap without surface preparation. Using an incoming energy of 5 keV a reasonable estimate of the band gap is obtained in most cases.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)74-80
    Number of pages7
    JournalJournal of Electron Spectroscopy and Related Phenomena
    Volume212
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Oct 2016

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