{"term":{"id":"14004","title":"depletion layer","longtitle":"IUPAC Gold Book - depletion layer","doi":"10.1351\/goldbook.14004","code":"14004","status":"current","mentioned":"<em>mentioned<\/em>: downward band bending, upward band bending","definitions":[{"id":1,"text":"Subsurface space where the majority carriers are forced away owing to band bending caused by the surface potential. (i) The subsurface layer of an n-type semiconductor becomes depleted of electrons, which are the majority carriers, as a consequence of upward band bending. (ii) The subsurface layer of a p-type semiconductor becomes enriched by electrons (depleted of holes) as a consequence of downward band bending.","notes":{"1":"The surface charge sign is identical to the sign of the majority charge carriers. The surface charge (surface potential) in semiconductors is produced as a result of adsorption or contact with the medium (an electrolyte or another surface)."},"links":[{"term":"inversion layer","url":"https:\/\/goldbook.iupac.org\/\/terms\/view\/14027"}],"sources":["PAC, 2011, 83, 931. 'Glossary of terms used in photocatalysis and radiation catalysis (IUPAC Recommendations 2011)' on page 946 (https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1351\/PAC-REC-09-09-36)"]}],"altoutputs":{"html":"https:\/\/goldbook.iupac.org\/terms\/view\/14004\/html","xml":"https:\/\/goldbook.iupac.org\/terms\/view\/14004\/xml","plain":"https:\/\/goldbook.iupac.org\/terms\/view\/14004\/plain"},"citation":"Citation: 'depletion 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.14004","license":"The IUPAC Gold Book is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike CC BY-SA 4.0 International (https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/) for individual terms.","collection":"If you are interested in licensing the Gold Book for commercial use, please contact the IUPAC Executive Director at executivedirector@iupac.org .","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":"2026-05-31T05:12:45+00:00"}}