Control of the Interface Between Electron‐Hole and Electron‐Ion Plasmas: Hybrid Semiconductor‐Gas Phase Devices as a Gateway for Plasma Science

Coupling electron‐hole (e^–‐ h⁺) and electron‐ion plasmas across a narrow potential barrier with a strong electric field provides an interface between the two plasma genres and a pathway to electronic and photonic device functionality. The magnitude of the electric field present in the sheath of a low temperature, nonequilibrium microplasma is sufficient to influence the band structure of a semiconductor region in immediate proximity to the solid‐gas phase interface. Optoelectronic devices demonstrated by leveraging this interaction are described here. A hybrid microplasma/semiconductor photodetector, having a Si cathode in the form of an inverted square pyramid encompassing a neon microplasma, exhibits a photosensitivity in the ～420–1100 nm region as high as 3.5 A/W. Direct tunneling of electrons into the collector and the Auger neutralization of ions arriving at the Si surface appear to be facilitated by an n ‐type inversion layer at the cathode surface resulting from bandbending by the microplasma sheath electric field. Recently, an npn plasma bipolar junction transistor (PBJT), in which a low temperature plasma serves as the collector in an otherwise Si device, has also been demonstrated. Having a measured small signal current gain h_fe as large as 10, this phototransistor is capable of modulat‐ing and extinguishing the collector plasma with emitter‐base bias voltages <1 V. Electrons injected into the base when the emitter‐base junction is forward‐biased serve primarily to replace conduction band electrons lost to the collector plasma by secondary emission and ion‐enhanced field emission in which ions arriving at the base‐collector junction deform the electrostatic potential near the base surface, narrowing the potential barrier and thereby facilitating the tunneling of electrons into the collector. Of greatest significance, therefore, are the implications of active, plasma/solid state interfaces as a new frontier for plasma science. Specifically, the PBJT provides the first opportunity to control the electronic properties of a material at the boundary of, and interacting with, a plasma. By specifying the relative number densities of free (conduction band) and bound (valence band) electrons at the base‐collector interface, the PBJT's emitter‐base junction is able to dictate the rates of secondary electron emission (including Auger neutralization) at the semiconductor‐plasma interface, thereby offering the ability to vary at will the effective secondary electron emission coefficient for the base surface (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)