Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Phase Transitions: Melting and Freezing02:39

Phase Transitions: Melting and Freezing

11.7K
Heating a crystalline solid increases the average energy of its atoms, molecules, or ions, and the solid gets hotter. At some point, the added energy becomes large enough to partially overcome the forces holding the molecules or ions of the solid in their fixed positions, and the solid begins the process of transitioning to the liquid state or melting. At this point, the temperature of the solid stops rising, despite the continual input of heat, and it remains constant until all of the solid is...
11.7K
Fermi Level01:18

Fermi Level

2.6K
The Fermi-Dirac function is represented by an S-shaped curve indicating the probability of an energy state being occupied by an electron at a given temperature. The Fermi level is the energy level at which there is a fifty percent chance of finding an electron, and it is positioned between the lower-energy valence band and the higher-energy conduction band.
At absolute zero temperature, electrons fill all energy states up to the Fermi level, leaving upper states empty. As the temperature rises,...
2.6K
Fermi Level Dynamics01:12

Fermi Level Dynamics

1.1K
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...
1.1K
Types of Semiconductors01:20

Types of Semiconductors

1.8K
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...
1.8K
Metal-Semiconductor Junctions01:24

Metal-Semiconductor Junctions

1.4K
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...
1.4K
Biasing of Metal-Semiconductor Junctions01:27

Biasing of Metal-Semiconductor Junctions

907
Biasing metal-semiconductor junctions involves applying a voltage across the junction. Specifically, the metal is connected to a voltage source, while the semiconductor is grounded. This technique is essential for controlling the direction and magnitude of current flow in electronic devices, including diodes, transistors, and photovoltaic cells.
In Schottky junctions, where the semiconductor is n-type, applying a positive voltage to the metal relative to the semiconductor reduces its Fermi...
907

You might also read

Related Articles

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

Sort by
Same author

Multi-region sampling of the human small intestine using an ingestible device.

medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences·2026
Same author

Path-dependent recovery of the gut microbiome after antibiotics emerges from coupled ecological and evolutionary dynamics.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026
Same author

CUPID-seq enables highly multiplexed amplicon sequencing via combinatorial in-line dual indexing.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026
Same author

Phage-based microbiome manipulation reveals ecological interactions within gut communities.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026
Same author

The network structure of cross-feeding impacts microbial community diversity under growth-inhibiting stresses.

Nature communications·2026
Same author

Metabolic pathway analysis reveals hierarchical pentose sugar utilization and metabolic flexibility of <i>Bifidobacterium longum</i>.

Gut microbes·2026
Same journal

Erratum: Bacterial Turbulence at Compressible Fluid Interfaces [Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 138301 (2026)].

Physical review letters·2026
Same journal

Unveiling Light-Quark Yukawa Flavor Structure via Dihadron Fragmentation at Lepton Colliders.

Physical review letters·2026
Same journal

Adaptable Route to Fast Coherent State Transport via Bang-Bang-Bang Protocols.

Physical review letters·2026
Same journal

Topological Transition and Emergence of Elasticity of Dislocation in Skyrmion Lattice: Beyond Kittel's Magnetic-Polar Analogy.

Physical review letters·2026
Same journal

Pound-Drever-Hall Method for Superconducting-Qubit Readout.

Physical review letters·2026
Same journal

Coupling a ^{73}Ge Nuclear Spin to an Electrostatically Defined Quantum Dot in Silicon.

Physical review letters·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 1, 2026

Fabrication of Uniform Nanoscale Cavities via Silicon Direct Wafer Bonding
10:32

Fabrication of Uniform Nanoscale Cavities via Silicon Direct Wafer Bonding

Published on: January 9, 2014

9.2K

Superheating and induced melting at semiconductor interfaces.

Kerwyn Casey Huang1, Tairan Wang, John D Joannopoulos

  • 1Center for Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA. kchuang@princeton.edu

Physical Review Letters
|May 21, 2005
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Coating semiconductor surfaces with a single monolayer of a different material can alter melting points. This study shows GaAs on Ge prevents melting, while Ge on GaAs induces melting.

More Related Videos

High-resolution Thermal Micro-imaging Using Europium Chelate Luminescent Coatings
09:01

High-resolution Thermal Micro-imaging Using Europium Chelate Luminescent Coatings

Published on: April 16, 2017

6.9K
Using Laser Scanning Microscopy to Determine Electromigration in Molybdenum Disilicide
09:41

Using Laser Scanning Microscopy to Determine Electromigration in Molybdenum Disilicide

Published on: May 23, 2025

644

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 1, 2026

Fabrication of Uniform Nanoscale Cavities via Silicon Direct Wafer Bonding
10:32

Fabrication of Uniform Nanoscale Cavities via Silicon Direct Wafer Bonding

Published on: January 9, 2014

9.2K
High-resolution Thermal Micro-imaging Using Europium Chelate Luminescent Coatings
09:01

High-resolution Thermal Micro-imaging Using Europium Chelate Luminescent Coatings

Published on: April 16, 2017

6.9K
Using Laser Scanning Microscopy to Determine Electromigration in Molybdenum Disilicide
09:41

Using Laser Scanning Microscopy to Determine Electromigration in Molybdenum Disilicide

Published on: May 23, 2025

644

Area of Science:

  • Materials Science
  • Surface Science
  • Computational Physics

Background:

  • Semiconductor surfaces exhibit unique properties near their bulk melting points.
  • Understanding surface phase transitions is crucial for materials engineering.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the impact of single-monolayer coatings on semiconductor surface melting.
  • To explore phenomena like superheating and induced melting using ab initio simulations.

Main Methods:

  • Ab initio density-functional theory (DFT) simulations.
  • Modeling semiconductor surfaces at temperatures near bulk melting points.

Main Results:

  • A single monolayer of Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) on Germanium (Ge)(110) prevents Ge melting for at least 10 picoseconds.
  • A single monolayer of Ge on GaAs(110) induces melting of the top GaAs layer 300 K below its bulk melting point.
  • Coating alters surface solid-liquid phase-transition temperatures.

Conclusions:

  • Microscopic surface coatings can significantly modify semiconductor melting behavior.
  • This research provides the first ab initio insights into surface superheating and induced melting phenomena.