Surface excitation parameter for semiconducting III-V compounds

Abstract

In the rapid development of mesoscopic science, the study of surface excitations in solids and overlayer systems plays a crucial role. The surface excitation parameter which describes the total probability of surface plasmon excitations by an electron traveling in vacuum before impinging on or after escaping from a semiconducting III-V compound has been calculated for 200-2000 eV electrons crossing the compound surface. These calculations were performed using the dielectric response theory with sum-rule -constrained extended Drude dielectric functions established by the fits of these functions to optical data. Surface excitation parameters calculated for InSb, InAs, Gap, GaSb or GaAs III-V compounds were found to follow to a simple formula, i.e. P-s = aE(-b), where Ps is the surface excitation parameter and E is the electron energy. These surface excitation parameters were then applied to determine the elastic reflection coefficient for electrons elastically backscattered from III-V compounds using the Monte Carlo simulations. Good agreement was found for the electron elastic reflection coefficient between calculated results and experimental data. (c) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.