arXiv · 2605.00441
Thermodynamic Charge Partition in Accumulation-Layer Heterostructures
Abstract
We develop a thermodynamic description of accumulation-layer heterostructures in which the induced sheet density is partitioned between the near-interface accumulation-layer charge and a complementary screening charge in the surrounding structure. Treating this partition as the central state variable yields a complete Helmholtz free energy, a corrected locked-branch chemical potential, and a shifted release potential that separates energetic path selection from geometric capacitance. The physical path is selected spectrally: compressible segments remain fully screened, whereas incompressible segments evolve along a locked branch until release is triggered by the relevant gap. Differential capacitance, tunnel current and plateau width then emerge as different projections of the same coupled thermodynamic structure. A canonical two-stage self-consistent Poisson--Schr\"odinger reduction supplies universal master functions for the isolated accumulation layer and master surfaces for its finite-buffer extension, making the theory calculable across density and geometry. Comparison with magnetocapacitance and magnetotunneling data supports a picture in which nearby extended charge refills the accumulation layer and the effective screening depth grows with magnetic field.
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Elmar Böckenhoff. 2026-05-01. Thermodynamic Charge Partition in Accumulation-Layer Heterostructures. https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.00441
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