Transverse acoustoelectric effect in the separated-medium surface-wave configuration

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Abstract
The transverse acoustoelectric voltage (TAV) produced in an ideal semiconductor by a surface acoustic wave propagating along an adjacent piezoelectric has been recalculated following a procedure similar to that in the original calculation of Gulyaev et al. [Yu. V. Gulyaev, A. Yu. Karabanov, A. M. Kmita, A. V. Medved′, and Sh. S. Tursunov, Fiz. Tverd. Tela 12, 2595 (1970)]. It appears that the original calculation contains an algebraic error, which results in an incorrect functional form for the TAV. In particular, it is shown here that the TAV undergoes a reversal of sign as function of frequency (or resistivity), even under flatband conditions and with only a single carrier type being involved in the interaction. At low frequencies (or low resistivities) the sign of the transverse effect is such that the surface of the semiconductor is accumulated, in agreement with experiments on low-resistivity materials. The present calculations agree (in the appropriate limits) with the more complicated formal calculation of Morita et al. [S. Morita, K. Tsubouchi, and N. Mikoshiba, Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 15, 1019 (1976)]. It is suggested that a number of experimental results in the literature, which appear contradictory and somewhat confusing, can be reinterpreted in a reasonable manner if the inversion of the TAV with resistivity is accounted for.