Electronic structure of semiconductor interfaces

Recent developments in microelectronics have focused attention on semiconductor heterostructures. Many important electronic and optical properties of such systems depend on the nature and concentration of localized electronic states at the interfaces, which in turn depend on the interfacial atomic arrangements. In this paper we will illustrate the relationship between interfacial electronic and atomic structure by considering the interfaces between lattice-matched semiconductors (Ge/GaAs); semiconductors and native oxide overlayers (Si/SiO2); semiconductors and metallic suicide overlayers (Pd2Si/Si); and crystalline and amorphous semiconductors (c-Si/a-Si).