PROPOSAL OF A TECHNIQUE TO DETECT SUBSURFACE HOT-ELECTRONS WITH A SCANNING PROBE MICROSCOPE

In this paper we introduce a new experimental technique called scannin g hot electron microscopy (SHEM), which allows detection of hot electr ons emitted from sub-surface semiconductor structures. The principle o f operation is basically the same as that of a reverse biased ballisti c-electron-emitting microscope (BEEM), but with several additional mod ifications necessary to ensure that the current of hot electrons flowi ng from the sample to the probe exceeds that of thermalized electrons. In particular, hot electrons are required to surmount the gap barrier rather than tunnel through it. The possibility of SHEM operation is t heoretically demonstrated for several material combinations of the pro be and the sample, and a suitable experimental setup is proposed. Once this technique is fully implemented, it will allow for the study of e lectron wave phenomena in subsurface semiconductor structures.