Hot electron scattering processes in metal films and at metal-semiconductor interfaces

Ballistic electron emission spectroscopy is used to investigate current attenuations in thin films of Pd/Si, from which the elastic and inelastic mean free paths are uniquely determined. The observed equality of transmission across Pd/Si(100) and Si(111) interfaces is attributed to interface scattering, on the basis of which a current transport model is developed that gives unprecedented agreement with experiment over a wide energy range. © 1993 The American Physical Society.