ECE-656: Fall 2011

Lecture 3: Density of States

Professor Mark Lundstrom Electrical and Computer Engineering Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN USA

8/25/11

k-space vs. energy-space

N 3 D ( k ) d 3k = ! 3 d k = D3 D E dE 4" 3

( )

N(k): independent of bandstructure D(E): depends on E(k)

N(k) and D(E) are proportional to the volume, !, but it is common to express D(E) per unit energy and per unit volume. We will use the D3D(E) to mean the DOS per unit energy-volume.

Lundstrom ECE-656 F11

about the limits of the integrals

f0 ! 0
BW >> k BT

EF

Lundstrom ECE-656 F11

outline

1) Density of states 2) Example: graphene 3) Discussion 4) Summary

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons AttributionNonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/
Lundstrom ECE-656 F11 4

example: 1D DOS

Lundstrom ECE-656 F11 5

example: 1D DOS for parabolic bands

independent of E(k)

parabolic E(k)
E = EC + !2k 2 2 m*

D1D ( E ) =

1 !!

2 m* E " EC
Lundstrom ECE-656 F11

!=

1 dE = ! dk

2 E " EC m
*

)
6

density of states in a nanowire

Lundstrom ECE-656 F11 7

2D density of states

Lundstrom ECE-656 F11

density of states in a film

Lundstrom ECE-656 F11 9

effective mass vs. tight binding

TSi = 3 nm

sp3s*d5 tight binding calculation by Yang Liu, Purdue University, 2007

Lundstrom ECE-656 F11 10

effective mass vs. tight binding

near subband edge well above subband edge

sp3s*d5 tight binding calculation by Yang Liu, Purdue University, 2007

Lundstrom ECE-656 F11 11

exercise

Lundstrom ECE-656 F11 12

how does non-parabolicity affect DOS(E)?

non-parabolicity increases DOS (E)

Lundstrom ECE-656 F11 13

alternative approach

Lundstrom ECE-656 F11 14

proof
in k-space, we know: can also work in energy-space:

nL =

$ f ( E ) L # ! ( E " E ) dE
0 k k

nL =

1 ! L k

$ f ( E )" ( E # E ) dE
0 k

Lundstrom ECE-656 F11 15

interpretation

counts the states between E and E +dE

Lundstrom ECE-656 F11

16

outline

1) Density of states 2) Example: graphene 3) Discussion 4) Summary

Lundstrom ECE-656 F11

17

graphene
Graphene is a one-atom-thick planar carbon sheet with a honeycomb lattice.

source: CNTBands 2.0 on nanoHUB.org

Graphene has an unusual bandstructure that leads to interesting effects and potentially to useful electronic devices.
Lundstrom ECE-656 F11 18

graphene
E(k) Brillouin zone

Datta: ECE 495N fall 2008: https://nanohub.org/resources/5710 (Lecture 21) https://nanohub.org/resources/5721 (Lecture 22)

19

simplified bandstructure near E = 0

We will use a very simple description of the graphene bandstructure, which is a good approximation near the Fermi level.

ky kx

(valley degeneracy)

neutral point (Dirac point)

We will refer to the EF > 0 case, as n-type graphene and to the EF < 0 case as p-type graphene.
20

DOS for graphene: method 2

D2 D E =

( )

1 1 A ! E " Ek = # || A k|| A 2$

( )

% 2 ' ! ( E " Ek )2$ k|| dk||

0
||

&

D2 D E =

( )

gV
2 ! ! 2" F

&#(E $ E
0

k||

) Ek dEk
||

||

D2 D E =

( )

2E 2 ! ! 2" F

E>0

D2 D E =

( )

2E
2 ! ! 2" F

Lundstrom ECE-656 F11

21

DOS for graphene: method 1

Lundstrom ECE-656 F11

22

DOS for graphene: method 1

N ( k ) dk = AgV = AgV k dk ! EdE

! !" F

= AD2 D

( ) ( E ) dE

D2 D E =

( )

2E
2 ! ! 2" F

Lundstrom ECE-656 F11

23

outline

1) Density of states 2) Example: graphene 3) Discussion 4) Summary

Lundstrom ECE-656 F11

24

density of states
D1D

E D2D

E D3D

25

Lundstrom ECE-656 F11

density of states for bulk silicon

6

DOS (1022 cm1 eV1)

0 5

1 0 1 2 ENERGY (eV)

The DOS is calculated with nonlocal empirical pseudopotentials including the spin-orbit interaction. (Courtesy Massimo Fischetti, August, 2011.)
26 Lundstrom ECE-656 F11

computing the density of states

6

DOS (1022 cm1 eV1)

no. of states =
0 5 4 3 2 1 0 1 2 ENERGY (eV) 3 4 5 6

( 2" #)

( !k )

$2

Courtesy Massimo Fischetti, August, 2011.

27 Lundstrom ECE-656 F11

10 8 6 4 2 0 0.0 8 me,d1=0.3288 me (gc=6)
1 1

density of states for bulk silicon (near the band =1.0 eVedge)
me,d2=0.2577 me (gc=6) 2= 0.0 eV1 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 valence band ELECTRON KINETIC ENERGY (eV) 0.5

conduction band
10 8 6 4 2 0 0.0 8 me,d1=0.3288 me (gc=6) 1=1.0 eV1 me,d2=0.2577 me (gc=6) 2= 0.0 eV1 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 ELECTRON KINETIC ENERGY (eV) 0.5

DOS (1021 cm1 eV1)

DOS (1021 cm1 eV1)

DOS (1021 cm1 eV1)

mh,d1=0.8076 me (gv=1) 1=0.5 eV1 mh,d2=0.7528 me (gv=1) 2=0.25 eV1 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 HOLE KINETIC ENERGY (eV) 0.5

0 0.0

DOS (1021 cm1 eV1)

(Courtesy Massimo Fischetti, August, 2011)

Lundstrom ECE-656 F11
mh,d1=0.8076 me (gv=1) 1=0.5 eV1 mh,d2=0.7528 me (gv=1) 2=0.25 eV1 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 HOLE KINETIC ENERGY (eV) 0.5

28

0 0.0

outline

1) Density of states 2) Example: graphene 3) Discussion 4) Summary

Lundstrom ECE-656 F11

29

summary

1) When computing the carrier density, the important quantity is the density of states, D(E). 2) The DOS depends on dimension (1D, 2D, 3D) and bandstructure. 3) If E(k) can be described analytically, then we can obtain analytical expressions for DOS(E). If not, we can compute it numerically.
30 Lundstrom ECE-656 F11

questions
1) Density of states 2) Example: graphene 3) Discussion 4) Summary

Lundstrom ECE-656 F11

31