The interface phase and the Schottky barrier for a crystalline dielectric on silicon.

The barrier height for electron exchange at a dielectric-semiconductor interface has long been interpreted in terms of Schottky's theory with modifications from gap states induced in the semiconductor by the bulk termination. Rather, we show with the structure specifics of heteroepitaxy that the electrostatic boundary conditions can be set in a distinct interface phase that acts as a "Coulomb buffer." This Coulomb buffer is tunable and will functionalize the barrier-height concept itself.