Modeling the electrical characteristics of Schottky contacts in low-dimensional heterostructure devices

This paper deals with the modeling of the electronic characteristics of semiconductor devices based on Schottky contacts in low-dimensional systems. For the capacitance-voltage characteristics, a quasi-two-dimensional quantum mechanical model is developed and validated. For the current-voltage characteristics, a unified model is presented, considering both the tunneling as well as the thermionic emission mechanisms. Our theoretical predictions suggest that for photodetection applications the use of these contacts, replacing conventional metal-semiconductor junctions, can reduce the dark current by at least one order of magnitude.