Electronic properties of dislocations

Dislocations exhibit a number of exceptional electronic properties resulting in a significant increase in the drain current of MOSFETs if defined numbers of these defects are placed in the channel. Measurements on individual dislocations in Si refer to a supermetallic conductivity. A model of the electronic structure of dislocations is proposed based on experimental measurements and tight-binding simulations. It is shown that the high strain level on the dislocation core—exceeding 10 % or more—causes locally dramatic changes in the band structure and results in the formation of a quantum well along the dislocation line. This explains experimental findings (two-dimensional electron gas, single-electron transitions). The energy quantization within the quantum well is most important for supermetallic conductivity.