The energy difference between the vacuum level and the Fermi level: the minimum energy needed to remove an electron from a material. It affects the threshold voltage of metal gates and the height of Schottky barriers.
Field: Semiconductor physics
The work function is the energy needed to remove an electron at the Fermi level into vacuum, i.e.
Which is the correct definition of the work function of a m…The work function, by contrast, is the energy from the Fermi level to the vacuum level and does depend on doping.
What is the energy difference between the vacuum level and …But heavy doping lowers mobility and increases variability from random dopant fluctuation, so FinFETs and GAA devices use nearly undoped channels and set Vth with the gate work function.
How does the threshold voltage change when the impurity con…Threshold voltage Fermi level Electron affinity Acceptor Mobility Random dopant fluctuation (RDF) GAA (gate-all-around) Flat-band voltage Gate-last (replacement metal gate) Auger recombination