Discrete tunneling in electronic transport properties of nanograined porous silicon and similar heterophase systems

Experimental data obtained in the study of transverse current transport in a number of nanosized grained or similar media, such as porous silicon layers, anodic silicon oxide layers, and silicon nitride layers prepared by ion implantation of nitrogen into silicon, have been analyzed within the theory of discrete tunneling. It has been demonstrated that the measurements of current-voltage characteristics of diode structures with dielectric interlayers and embedded grains make it possible to obtain useful information on the character and sizes of grains or quantum dots in the nanosized grained medium. Amorphous dielectrics can be considered a grained medium with nanosized composition fluctuations. The current-voltage characteristics of real structures are determined by both the current nonlinearity associated with the charge carrier injection and the field nonlinearity caused by the Coulomb blockade of tunneling.