Evaluation of field emission properties from multiple-stacked Si quantum dots

• Electron field emission from 6-fold stack of Si-QDs has been evaluated.
• AFM measurements show the local electron emission from individual Si-QDs.
• Impact of applied bias on the electron emission energy distribution was investigated.

Multiple-stacked Si quantum dots (QDs) with ultrathin SiO2 interlayers were formed on ultrathin SiO2 layers by repeating a process sequence consisting of the formation of Si-QDs by low pressure chemical vapor deposition using a SiH4 gas and the surface oxidation and subsequent surface modification by remote hydrogen and oxygen plasmas, respectively. To clarify the electron emission mechanism from multiple-stacked Si-QDs covered with an ultrathin Au top electrode, the energy distribution of the emitted electrons and its electric field dependence was measured using a hemispherical electron energy analyzer in an X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy system under DC bias application to the multiple-stacked Si-QD structure. At − 6 V and over, the energy distributions reached a peak at ~ 2.5 eV with a tail toward the higher energy side. While the electron emission intensity was increased exponentially with an increase in the applied DC bias, there was no significant increase in the emission peak energy. The observed emission characteristics can be interpreted in terms of field emissions from the second and/or third topmost Si-QDs resulting from the electric concentration there.