The nonlinear carrier transport in a bipolar semiconductor sample

Abstract

A theory of formation of the voltage across a bipolar semiconductor sample due to thecurrent flow accounting for the energy band bending near the semiconductor surfaces ispresented. The non-equilibrium space charge layers near the sample surfaces and theboundary conditions in the real metal–semiconductor junction have been taken intoaccount. It is shown that the voltage–current relation of a thin sample at weak injectiondiffers essentially from the classical Ohm’s law and becomes nonlinear for certainsemiconductor surface parameters. Complex voltage–current relations and thephoto-induced electromotive force measurements allow determining the surfacerecombination rate in the real metal–semiconductor junction and the semiconductor surfacepotential.