TY - JOUR
T1 - Fermi level, work function and vacuum level
AU - Kahn, Antoine
N1 - Funding Information:
The author is indebted to David Cahen for past extensive discussions on the topic. Support of this work by the National Science Foundation (DMR-1506097) is gratefully acknowledged.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Royal Society of Chemistry 2016.
Copyright:
Copyright 2016 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2016/1
Y1 - 2016/1
N2 - Electronic levels and energies of a solid, such as Fermi level, vacuum level, work function, ionization energy or electron affinity, are of paramount importance for the control of device behavior, charge carrier injection and transport. These levels and quantities, however, depend sensitively on the structure and surface morphology and chemical composition of the solid. A small amount of contaminants on a metal surface, or a shift in molecular orientation at the surface of an organic semiconductor, can change work function and vacuum level position by a large fraction of an electron-volt, and significantly impact the electronic structure of interfaces. The goal of this brief focus article is to provide definitions of key concepts and review simple mechanisms that affect these fundamental quantities.
AB - Electronic levels and energies of a solid, such as Fermi level, vacuum level, work function, ionization energy or electron affinity, are of paramount importance for the control of device behavior, charge carrier injection and transport. These levels and quantities, however, depend sensitively on the structure and surface morphology and chemical composition of the solid. A small amount of contaminants on a metal surface, or a shift in molecular orientation at the surface of an organic semiconductor, can change work function and vacuum level position by a large fraction of an electron-volt, and significantly impact the electronic structure of interfaces. The goal of this brief focus article is to provide definitions of key concepts and review simple mechanisms that affect these fundamental quantities.
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U2 - 10.1039/c5mh00160a
DO - 10.1039/c5mh00160a
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:84951971291
SN - 2051-6347
VL - 3
SP - 7
EP - 10
JO - Materials Horizons
JF - Materials Horizons
IS - 1
ER -