THEORY OF N-INVERSION LAYERS IN NARROW GAP SEMICONDUCTORS - THE ROLE OF THE BOUNDARY-CONDITIONS

A theoretical calculation of the subband energy structure of inversion layers in narrow gap semiconductors is presented. The role of boundary conditions imposed on the electron wavefunctions is examined in detail, both at the insulator-semiconductor interface and inside the semiconductor, where the degeneracy of the two-dimensional states with the bulk valence band plays an important part. The method used is briefly compared with previously published calculational models. Self consistently calculated subband energies and spin splittings for narrow gap HgCdTe are presented and compared with the experimental results.