Electronic properties of δ -doped Si:P and Ge:P layers in the high-density limit using a Thomas-Fermi method

• Published in: Physical review. B, Condensed matter and materials physics Vol. 89; no. 3
• Main Authors: Smith, J. S., Cole, J. H., Russo, S. P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 13-01-2014
• Subjects: Approximation; Band structure of solids; Condensed matter; Electronic properties; Germanium; Mathematical analysis; Mathematical models; Semiconductors; Silicon
• ISSN: 1098-0121; 1550-235X
• DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.89.035306

We present a scalable method for calculating the electronic properties of a delta -doped phosphorus layer in silicon and germanium. Our calculations are based on an sp super(3)d super(3)s* tight-binding model and the Thomas-Fermi-Dirac approximation. The energy shift in the lowest conduction band states of the Ge band structure is characterized and a comparison is made to a delta -doped P layer in Si. The results for the delta -doped Si:P layer themselves compare well to the predictions of more "resource intensive" computational models. The Thomas-Fermi method presented herein scales easily to large system sizes. Efficient scaling is important for the calculation of quantum transport properties in delta -doped semiconductors that are currently of experimental interest.