Electronic structure of a metal-insulator interface

Abstract

We present an analytical study of the electronic structure of a metal-insulator interface with special emphasis on the metal induced gap states (MIGS). It includes three steps: (i) a tight-binding approach of the dispersion relation and Green's function of insulators of NaCl or ZnS structure; (ii) a matching with free electron-like wavefunctions at the NaCl(100) or ZnS(110) surfaces, which yields the density and penetration depth of the MIGS as a function of the ionocovalent characteristics of the insulator and of the metal Fermi level; (iii) a self-consistent determination of the Fermi level position in a Thomas-Fermi approximation. The Schottky barrier height is derived under a simple analytic form and its dependence upon the metal work function is found in good agreement with experimental results.