Imaging the Acceptor Wave Function Anisotropy in Silicon.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 40839833.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1021/acs.nanolett.5c02675 and PMC identifier 12464996.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
We present the first scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) image of hydrogenic acceptor wave functions in silicon. These acceptor states appear as square-ring-like features in STM images and originate from near-surface defects introduced by high-energy bismuth implantation into a silicon (001) wafer. Scanning tunneling spectroscopy confirms the formation of a p-type surface. Effective-mass and tight-binding calculations provide an excellent description of the observed square-ring-like features, confirming their acceptor character and attributing their symmetry to the light- and heavy-hole band degeneracy in silicon. A detailed understanding of the energetic and spatial properties of acceptor wave functions in silicon is essential for engineering large-scale acceptor-based quantum devices.