Effect of low-temperature charge redistributions on the conductivity of surface electron channels at the Si/SiO2 interface

The behavior of the electron density at the Si/SiO2 interface with temperature is investigated by measuring the rf conductivity of band-edge surface electronic channels that shunt Schottky barriers in n-type Si. The results are explained within a model in which the “metallic” character of the temperature behavior of the conductivity reflects a redistribution of electron charge between the oxide and the silicon lattice in the vicinity of characteristic temperatures of the oxygen subsystem of the oxide.