Advances in characterizing and controlling metal-semiconductor interfaces

We have used a variety of novel approaches in characterizing metal-semiconductor interfaces — soft X-ray photoemission spectroscopy with interlayers or markers, surface photovoltage spectroscopy, and cathodoluminescence spectroscopy, coupled with pulsed laser annealing — to reveal systematics between interface chemical and electronic structure. The chemical basis for these interfacial properties suggest new avenues for controlling electronic structure on a microscopic scale.