Surface-roughness fractality effects in electrical conductivity of single metallic and semiconducting films

Authors:

• G. Palasantzas,
• Józef Barnaś

Abstract

Surface-roughness effects in electrical conductivity of thin metallic and semiconducting films with self-affine fractal surfaces are considered in the framework of the Born approximation. The surface roughness is described by the (Formula presented)-correlation model, and is characterized by the roughness exponent (Formula presented) the in-plane correlation length ξ, and the rms roughness amplitude Δ. In the case of metallic films the conductivity is shown to increase monotonically with (Formula presented) increasing from (Formula presented) to (Formula presented) and with decreasing ratio (Formula presented) For semiconducting quantum wells the conductivity shows a peculiar interplay of quantum-mechanical effects and scattering due to surface roughness. © 1997 The American Physical Society.