Title: accumulation layer
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - accumulation layer
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.13989
Status: current

Definition
Subsurface space where the majority carriers accumulate near the surface of a semiconductor because of band bending caused by the surface potential.

Note
The surface charge is of opposite sign to that of the majority charge carriers in the semiconductor. This leads to accumulation of the majority charge carriers in a subsurface layer.

Related Terms
- depletion layer: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/14004
- inversion layer: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/14027

Source
- PAC, 2011, 83, 931. 'Glossary of terms used in photocatalysis and radiation catalysis (IUPAC Recommendations 2011)' on page 939 (https://doi.org/10.1351/PAC-REC-09-09-36)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/13989/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/13989/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/13989/xml

Citation: Citation: 'accumulation layer' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.13989
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Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.
Accessed: 2026-05-31T04:21:39+00:00