Photoemission of Electrons from Metals into Silicon Dioxide

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Abstract
Metal‐insulator contacts have been prepared by evaporating partially transparent metal electrodes onto a thermally grown silicon dioxide layer. The metals employed were Mg, Al, Ag, Cr, Cu,Au,Ni, Pd, and Pt. Photoemission of electrons from the metal electrode into the oxide conduction band has been observed in each case. The photoelectric threshold energy φ T for this process depends primarily upon the metal employed and is consistent with the relation φ T =φ M −χ, where φ M is the vacuum value of the metal work function and χ, the electron affinity of the oxide, is 1.0 eV.