Description of low temperature bandtail states in two-dimensional semiconductors using path integral approach

Abstract

We used the solutions from the variational path integral to suggest a function form of the bandtail states of a two-dimensional system. The analytic solutions provide two regimes, i.e., the ground state (low temperature) and the semiclassical (high temperature) limits. We used the theoretical results to describe the results of the bandtail states in Si/SiO2 heterostructure reported recently (Jock, Appl. Phys. Lett. 100, 023503 (2012)). The low-temperature bandtail provided good agreement to the experimental results (sample B) with the parameters of Δ 0.225 nm, L 3.55 nm, and a 5 nm. © 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.