> Chambers and his team were testing germanium in combination with a specialized thin crystalline film of lanthanum-strontium-zirconium-titanium-oxide (LSZTO).

> Chambers and his team were testing germanium in combination with a specialized thin crystalline film of lanthanum-strontium-zirconium-titanium-oxide (LSZTO). "We are reporting on a powerful tool for probing semiconductor structure and function," said Chambers. "Hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed in this case that atoms of oxygen, an impurity in the germanium, dominate the properties of the material system when germanium is joined to a particular oxide material. This was a big surprise." > "Our results were best interpreted in terms of oxygen impurities in the germanium being responsible for a very interesting effect," Chambers said. "The oxygen atoms near the interface donate electrons to the LSZTO film, creating holes, or the absence of electrons, in the germanium within a few atomic layers of the interface.