Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Fermi Level Dynamics

Fermi Level Dynamics

The vacuum level denotes the energy threshold required for an electron to escape from a material surface. It is usually positioned above the conduction band of a semiconductor and acts as a benchmark for comparing electron energies within various materials.
Electron affinity in semiconductors refers to the energy gap between the minimum of its conduction band and the vacuum level and it is a critical parameter in determining how easily a semiconductor can accept additional electrons.
The work...

Semiconductors

Semiconductors

There is variation in the electrical conductivity of materials - metals, semiconductors, and insulators that are showcased with the help of the energy band diagrams.
Metals such as copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), or lead (Pb) have low resistivity and feature conduction bands that are either not fully occupied or overlap with the valence band, making a bandgap non-existent. This allows electrons in the highest energy levels of the valence band to easily transition to the conduction band upon gaining...

Types of Semiconductors

Types of Semiconductors

Intrinsic semiconductors are highly pure materials with no impurities. At absolute zero, these semiconductors behave as perfect insulators because all the valence electrons are bound, and the conduction band is empty, disallowing electrical conduction. The Fermi level is a concept used to describe the probability of occupancy of energy levels by electrons at thermal equilibrium. In intrinsic semiconductors, the Fermi level is positioned at the midpoint of the energy gap at absolute zero. When...

P-N junction

P-N junction

A p-n junction is formed when p-type and n-type semiconductor materials are joined together. At the interface of the p-n junction, holes from the p-side and electrons from the n-side begin to diffuse into the opposite sides due to the concentration gradient. This diffusion of carriers leads to a region around the junction where there are no free charge carriers, known as the depletion region. The charge density within the depletion region for the n-side and p-side can be described by the...

Metal-Semiconductor Junctions

Metal-Semiconductor Junctions

The contact of metal and semiconductor can lead to the formation of a junction with either Schottky or Ohmic behavior.
Schottky Barriers
Schottky barriers arise when a metal with a work function (Φm) contacts a semiconductor with a different work function (Φs). Initially, electrons transfer until the Fermi levels of the metal and semiconductor align at equilibrium. For instance, if Φm > Φs, the semiconductor Fermi level is higher than the metal's before contact. The semiconductor's...

Imperfections in Crystal Structure: Stoichiometric Point Defects

Imperfections in Crystal Structure: Stoichiometric Point Defects

Schottky defects arise when some lattice points in a crystal, such as those in NaCl, remain unoccupied, creating lattice vacancies without disturbing the overall electrical neutrality of the crystal. This defect is common in ionic crystals where the positive and negative ions are similar in size, as seen in sodium chloride and cesium chloride. The presence of Schottky defects enables the crystal to conduct electricity to a small extent through an ionic mechanism. Electric fields cause nearby...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Effective Rabi frequency in ultrafast semiconductor lasers: self-starting harmonic frequency combs.

Light, science & applications·2026

Same author

Ocular diagnostics and occipital neurovascular coupling in ocular hypertension and open angle glaucoma.

Frontiers in neuroscience·2025

Same author

Terahertz semiconductor laser chaos.

Nature communications·2025

Same author

Solitons in ultrafast semiconductor lasers with saturable absorber.

Nanophotonics (Berlin, Germany)·2025

Same author

Evaluation of layered tissue scattering properties: a time-domain spatially resolved spectroscopy approach.

Journal of biomedical optics·2025

Same author

Driven bright solitons on a mid-infrared laser chip.

Nature·2025

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 4, 2026

Fabrication of Uniform Nanoscale Cavities via Silicon Direct Wafer Bonding

Fabrication of Uniform Nanoscale Cavities via Silicon Direct Wafer Bonding

Published on: January 9, 2014

Cavity solitons as pixels in semiconductor microcavities.

Stephane Barland¹, Jorge R Tredicce, Massimo Brambilla

¹Institut Non Lineaire de Nice, 1361 Route des Lucioles, F-06560 Valbonne, France.

|October 18, 2002

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Researchers demonstrate self-confined cavity solitons in semiconductor microresonators. These optical solitons can be independently controlled, paving the way for miniaturized all-optical processing and reconfigurable photonic devices.

More Related Videos

Silicon Metal-oxide-semiconductor Quantum Dots for Single-electron Pumping

Silicon Metal-oxide-semiconductor Quantum Dots for Single-electron Pumping

Published on: June 3, 2015

Rendering SiO2/Si Surfaces Omniphobic by Carving Gas-Entrapping Microtextures Comprising Reentrant and Doubly Reentrant Cavities or Pillars

Rendering SiO₂/Si Surfaces Omniphobic by Carving Gas-Entrapping Microtextures Comprising Reentrant and Doubly Reentrant Cavities or Pillars

Published on: February 11, 2020

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jul 4, 2026

Fabrication of Uniform Nanoscale Cavities via Silicon Direct Wafer Bonding

Fabrication of Uniform Nanoscale Cavities via Silicon Direct Wafer Bonding

Published on: January 9, 2014

Silicon Metal-oxide-semiconductor Quantum Dots for Single-electron Pumping

Silicon Metal-oxide-semiconductor Quantum Dots for Single-electron Pumping

Published on: June 3, 2015

Rendering SiO2/Si Surfaces Omniphobic by Carving Gas-Entrapping Microtextures Comprising Reentrant and Doubly Reentrant Cavities or Pillars

Rendering SiO₂/Si Surfaces Omniphobic by Carving Gas-Entrapping Microtextures Comprising Reentrant and Doubly Reentrant Cavities or Pillars

Published on: February 11, 2020

Area of Science:

Nonlinear optics
Semiconductor physics
Photonics

Background:

Cavity solitons are localized light structures in nonlinear optical systems.
Previous research focused on macroscopic cavities, limiting practical applications.
Semiconductor-based cavity solitons are desired for miniaturization and speed.

Purpose of the Study:

To experimentally demonstrate self-confined cavity solitons in semiconductor microresonators.
To achieve electrical pumping and control of cavity solitons.
To overcome boundary-dependence issues in previous observations.

Main Methods:

Utilizing vertical cavity semiconductor microresonators.
Electrically pumping the microresonators above transparency but below lasing threshold.
Employing numerical simulations for result interpretation.

Main Results:

Successful generation of cavity solitons in electrically pumped semiconductor microresonators.
Demonstration of independent writing, erasing, and manipulation of optical solitons.
Observation of self-confined solitons, independent of cavity boundaries.

Conclusions:

Cavity solitons can be generated and controlled in semiconductor microresonators.
This work enables the development of practical, miniaturized all-optical devices.
The findings open new avenues for reconfigurable photonic circuits and all-optical signal processing.