Evidence of surface charge effects in T-branch nanojunctions using microsecond-pulse testing

Abstract

The understanding of the influence of surface charge effects on the electrical properties of nanostructures is a key aspect for the forthcoming generations of electronic devices. In this work, by using an ultrafast electrical pulse characterization technique, we report on the room-temperature time response of a T-branch nanojunction which allows identifying the signature of surface states. Different pulse widths from 500 ns to 100 µs were applied to the device. For a given pulse width, the stem voltage is measured and compared with the DC result. The output value in the stem is found to depend on the pulse width and to be related to the characteristic charging time of the interface states. As expected, the results show that the well-know nonlinear response of T-branch junctions is more pronounced for long pulses, beyond such a characteristic time.