The influence of a strong electric field on the operating modes of the Auger transistor and the radiation detectors based on field emitters

Abstract

The photo-field emission properties of semiconductors at a very strong electric field as well as the parallel investigation of tunnel electron emission in metal-insulator-semiconductor heterostructures with a tunnel-transparent layer of an insulator have been studied. It was found that the self-consistent quantum well near the surface of semiconductor emitter tips can change the spectral region of photosensitivity of the radiation detectors, based on a semiconductor field emitter, and leads to the significant increase in their photosensitivity. The investigation of the metal-insulator-semiconductor heterostructures allows to realize the emission of hot electrons from the metal to the semiconductor, and makes possible to create the Auger-transistor based on the Al-SiO/sub 2/-n-Si structure which is the fastest operation semiconductor bipolar transistor.