High spatial and energy resolution characterization of lateral inhomogeneous Schottky barriers by conductive atomic force microscopy

We present a novel approach based on conductive atomic force microscope (c-AFM) for nano-scale mapping in laterally inhomogeneous metal-semiconductors Schottky contacts. For ultra-thin (1-5 nm) metal films with resistivity exceeding by about two orders of magnitude the bulk value, the current localization under the tip (10-20 nm diameter) occurs. By spectroscopic analysis of the current-voltage characteristics for different tip positions, the 2D Schottky barrier height (SBH) distribution is obtained with ∼0.1 eV energy resolution. The method was applied to explain the experimentally observed SBH lowering in macroscopic Au/4H-SiC diodes, in the presence of a not uniform SiO₂ layer at the SiC/Au interface. Nano-scale mapping on the oxide free Au/4H-SiC contact demonstrates a SBH distribution peaked at 1.8 eV and with tails from 1.6 eV to 2.1 eV. When ∼2 nm not uniform SiO₂ layer is intentionally grown on SiC before contact formation, the Au/SiO₂/4H-SiC SBH distribution exhibits a 0.3 eV lowering in the peak and a broadening (tails from 1.1 eV to 2.1 eV), thus explaining the macroscopically observed average effect.     

Unterminated 4H-SiC Schottky barrier diodes with novel HfNxBy electrodes

4H-SiC Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) were fabricated and characterized from room temperature to 573 K using HfN_xB_y as Schottky electrodes. The results are compared to SBDs fabricated using other electrodes that include Ni, Pt, Ti and Au. The Schottky barrier height Φ_b for as-deposited HfN_xB_y/n−/n+ diodes, determined from room temperature current-voltage characteristics, is 0.887 eV. This is lower than those of SBDs fabricated using other metals such as Au, where Φ_b is 1.79 eV. The HfN_xB_y/n−/n+ diodes studied have a much higher on-resistance R_on of around 38.24 mΩ-cm², which is about four times that of Au/n−/n+ diodes, due to the higher sheet resistance of the sputtered HfN_xB_y electrode layer. The barrier height Φ_b and ideality factor η of the HfN_xB_y/n−/n+ diodes remain almost unchanged after 400 and 750 °C anneal in N₂. This suggests excellent thermal and chemical stability of HfN_xB_y in contact with 4H-SiC.     

Interface control and photovoltaic properties of n-type silicon/metal junction by organic dye

The electronic parameters and photovoltaic properties of the Au/methylene blue/n-Si diodes were investigated by current-voltage and capacitance-conductance-frequency techniques. The diode exhibits a non-ideal behavior due the series resistance, organic layer and oxide layer. The barrier height (1.04 eV) of the Au/methylene blue/n-Si is higher than that of Au/n-Si Schottky diode (0.83 eV) due to an excess barrier formed by organic layer. The interface state density of the diode was determined using a conductance technique and was found to be 3.25 × 10¹² eV⁻¹ cm⁻². The diode shows a photovoltaic behavior with a maximum open circuit voltage V_oc of 0.23 V and short-circuit current I_sc of 20.8 μA under 100 mW/cm². It is evaluated that Au/methylene blue/n-Si is an organic-on-inorganic photodiode with the obtained electronic parameters and methylene blue organic dye controls the interface and electrical properties of conventional metal/n-type silicon junction.     

Pentacene/n-Si heterojunction diodes and photovoltaic devices investigated by I-V and C-V measurements

The forward and reverse current density-voltage (J-V) and capacitance-voltage (C-V) characteristics of pentacene/n⁻-silicon heterojunction diodes were investigated to clarify the carrier conduction mechanism at the organic/inorganic heterojunction. Current rectification characteristics of the pentacene/n⁻-Si junctions can be explained by a Schottky diode model with an interfacial layer. The diode parameters such as Schottky barrier height and ideality factor were estimated to be 0.79-1.0 eV and 2.4-2.7, respectively. The C-V analysis suggests that the depletion layer appears selectively in the n⁻-Si layer with a thickness of 1.47 μm from the junction with zero bias and the diffusion potential was estimated at 0.30 eV at the open-circuit condition. The present heterojunction allows the photovoltaic operation with power conversion efficiencies up to 0.044% with a simulated solar light exposure of 100 mW/cm².     

Temperature-dependent current-voltage characteristics of Cr/n-GaAs Schottky diodes

The Cr/n-GaAs/In Schottky contacts have been formed using dc magnetron sputtering. The current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of the device have been measured by steps of 20 K in the temperature range of 60-320 K. The ideality factor n of the device has remained about unchanged between 1.04 and 1.10 and Schottky barrier height around 0.58-0.60 eV from 320 K down to 160 K. It can be said that the experimental I-V data are almost independent of temperature above 160 K. After 160 K, the n value increased with a decrease in temperature and become 1.99 at 60 K. The I-V characteristics at high temperatures have been exactly explained by the standard TE model. The nature and origin of abnormal behaviors at low temperatures have been successfully explained by the current flow through the low SBH circular patches suggested by Tung and used by some studies in literature. It has been seen that the straight line of the nT vs. T plot with a T₀ value of 14 K was parallel to that of the ideal Schottky contact. Again, a lateral homogeneous BH value of 0.62 eV was calculated from the linear relationship between the ideality factor and barrier height values. It has been seen that he ?(T = 0) and BH temperature coefficient α values obtained from the flat band BH and the Norde’s model plots are in close agreement with each other.     

Controlling of electronic parameters of GaAs Schottky diode by poly(3,4-ethylenedioxithiophene)-block-poly(ethylene glycol) organic interlayer

The electronic properties of metal-organic semiconductor-inorganic semiconductor structure between GaAs and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxithiophene)-block-poly(ethylene glycol) organic film have been investigated via current-voltage and capacitance-voltage methods. The Au/PEDOT/n-GaAs contact exhibits a rectification behavior with the barrier height of 0.69 eV and ideality factor value of 3.94. The barrier height of the studied diode (0.67 eV) is lower than that of Ni/n-GaAs/In (0.85 eV) and Au/n-GaAs/In Schottky diodes. The decrease in barrier height of Au/n-GaAs/In Schottky diode is likely to be due to the variation in the space charge region in the GaAs. The obtained results indicate that control of the interfacial potential barrier for metal/n-GaAs diode was achieved using thin interlayer of the poly(3,4-ethylenedioxithiophene)-block-poly(ethylene glycol).     

Electrical characterization of current conduction in Au/TiO2/n-Si at wide temperature range

In this study, we have examined Au/TiO₂/n-Si Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs), in order to interpret in detail the experimental observed non-ideal current–voltage–temperature (I–V–T) characteristics. I–V characteristics were measured in the wide temperature range of 80–400 K. TiO₂ was deposited on n-Si substrate by reactive magnetron sputtering. The zero-bias barrier height (ϕ_B0) and ideality factor (n) show strong temperature dependence. While n decreases, ϕ_B0 increases with increasing temperature. Experimental results show that the current across the SBDs may be greatly influenced by the existence of Schottky barrier height (SBH) inhomogeneity. These temperature behaviors have been explained on the basis of the thermionic emission (TE) theory with Gaussian distribution (GD) of the barrier heights (BHs) due to BH inhomogeneities at metal–semiconductor (M/S) interface. From this assumptions, obtaining Richardson constant value of the A^* 121.01 A/cm² K² is perfect agreement with the theoretical value of 120 A/cm² K² for n-type Si. Hence, behaviors of the forward-bias I–V characteristics of the Au/TiO₂/n-Si (SBDs) can be successfully explained on the basis of a TE mechanism with a double Gaussian distribution of the BHs.     

Temperature dependence of the c-axis drift mobility in 4H-SiC

The electrical characteristics of 4H-SiC Schottky diodes were performed in the temperature range 80-700 K, in order to determine the temperature dependence of the drift mobility. At room temperature, a value of 724 cm²/(V s) was found, which decreased to 48.6 cm²/(V s) at 700 K. In the temperature range 200-700 K, a dependence of the mobility as T⁻³ was determined, that can be correlated to the presence of material defects.     

Effect of 6 MeV electron irradiation on electrical characteristics of the Au/n-Si/Al Schottky diode

Electron irradiation of the Au/n-Si/Al Schottky diode was performed by using 6 MeV electrons and 3 × 10¹² e⁻/cm² fluency. The current-voltage (I-V), capacitance-voltage (C-V) and capacitance-frequency (C-f) characteristics of the unirradiated and irradiated Schottky diode were analyzed. It was seen that the values of the barrier height, the series resistance, and the ideality factor increased after electron irradiation. However, there was a decrease in the leakage current with electron irradiation. The increase in the barrier height and in the series resistance values was attributed to the dopant deactivation in the near-interface region. The interface states, N_ss, have been decreased significantly after electron irradiation. This was attributed to the decrease in recombination centre and the existence of an interfacial layer. A decrease in the capacitance was observed after electron irradiation. This was attributed to decrease in the net ionized dopant concentration with electron irradiation.     

Role of titanium in Ti/Ni ohmic contact on n-type 6H-SiC

A set of Ti/Ni metallizations with different thickness of the underlying titanium layer was prepared on 6H-SiC together with structures that contained only pure Ti and Ni. Samples were gradually annealed at 750-1150 °C. Structures Ti(2)/Ni(50) and Ti(100)/Ni(50) showed the lowest contact resistivity, 2 × 10⁻⁴ Ω cm² in both cases. For the Ti(2)/Ni(50) structure, low contact resistivity was reached most likely due to reduction of surface oxides on SiC by the thin titanium layer. In the Ti(100)/Ni(50) structure, the titanium layer prevents diffusion of nickel towards SiC and there is a layer containing mainly TiC at the interface with silicon carbide.     

Electrical analysis of organic dye-based MIS Schottky contacts

In this work, we prepared metal/interlayer/semiconductor (MIS) diodes by coating of an organic film on p-Si substrate. Metal(Al)/interlayer(Orange GOG)/semiconductor(p-Si) MIS structure had a good rectifying behavior. By using the forward-bias I-V characteristics, the values of ideality factor (n) and barrier height (BH) for the Al/OG/p-Si MIS diode were obtained as 1.73 and 0.77 eV, respectively. It was seen that the BH value of 0.77 eV calculated for the Al/OG/p-Si MIS diode was significantly larger than the value of 0.50 eV of conventional Al/p-Si Schottky diodes. Modification of the potential barrier of Al/p-Si diode was achieved by using thin interlayer of the OG organic material. This was attributed to the fact that the OG organic interlayer increased the effective barrier height by influencing the space charge region of Si. The interface-state density of the MIS diode was found to vary from 2.79 × 10¹³ to 5.80 × 10¹² eV⁻¹ cm⁻².     

Barrier height temperature coefficient in ideal Ti/n-GaAs Schottky contacts

We have measured the I-V characteristics of Ti/n-GaAs Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) in the temperature range of 60-320 K by the steps of 20 K. The SBDs have been prepared by magnetron DC sputtering. The ideality factor n of the device has remained almost unchanged between 1.02 and 1.04 from 120 to 320 K, and 1.10 at 100 K. Therefore, it has been said that the experimental I-V data are almost independent of the sample temperature and quite well obey the thermionic emission (TE) model at temperatures above 100 K. Furthermore, the barrier height (BH) Φ_b0 slightly increased with a decrease in temperature, 320-120 K. The Φ_b0 versus temperature plot from intercepts of the forward-bias ln I versus V curves has given a BH temperature coefficient of α = −0.090 meV/K. The Norde’s function has been easily carried out to determine the temperature-dependent series resistance values because the TE current dominates in the I-V characteristics. Therefore, the Φ_b0 versus temperature plot from the Norde’s function has also given a BH temperature coefficient value of α = −0.089 meV/K. Thus, the negligible temperature dependence or BH temperature coefficient close to zero has been attributed to interface defects responsible for the pinning of the Fermi level because their ionization entropy is only weakly dependent on the temperature.     

Device processing and characterisation of high temperature silicon carbide Schottky diodes

High temperature silicon carbide diodes with nickel silicide Schottky contacts were fabricated by deposition of titanium-nickel metal film on 4H-SiC epitaxial wafer followed by annealing at 550 °C in vacuum. Room temperature boron implantation have been used to form single zone junction termination extension. 4H-SiC epitaxial structures designed to have theoretical parallel-plain breakdown voltages of 1900 and 3600 V have been used for this research. The diodes revealed soft recoverable avalanche breakdown at voltages of 1450 and 3400 V, respectively, which are about 80% and 95% of theoretical values. I-V characteristics of fabricated 4H-SiC Schottky diodes have been measured at temperatures from room temperature up to 400 °C. The diodes revealed unchangeable barrier heights and ideality factors as well as positive coefficients of breakdown voltage.     

6H-SiC epilayers as nuclear particle detectors

Schottky diodes based on the n-n ⁺ 6H-SiC epilayers grown by sublimation epitaxy and also the layers produced by CREE company (USA) were used as detectors of α-particles of spontaneous decay. Since the thickness of n-layers was smaller than the range of the particles, geometrical parameters of the experiment differed from conventional ones; in the latter case, a particle is brought to rest in the region of electric field in the detector. The calculated and experimental data were compared to study the special features of transport of nonequilibrium charge under the conditions of complete and partial depletion of the structure. It is shown that characteristics of the material that govern the transport of charge carriers can be deduced from the analysis of the behavior of the signal amplitude and the shape of the pulse-height spectrum in relation to bias voltage applied to the Schottky diode. It follows from the results that the present-day sublimation-grown SiC layers are suitable for use as the basis for fabrication of nuclear particle detectors.     

The effects of the temperature and annealing on current-voltage characteristics of Ni/n-type 6H-SiC Schottky diode

The temperature dependence of current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of as-fabricated and annealed Ni/n-type 6H-SiC Schottky diode has been investigated in the temperature range of 100-500 K. The forward I-V characteristics have been analysed on the basis of standard thermionic emission theory. It has been shown that the ideality factor (n) decreases while the barrier height (Φ_b) increases with increasing temperature. The values of Φ_b and n are obtained between 0.65-1.25 eV and 1.70-1.16 for as-fabricated and 0.74-1.70 eV and 1.84-1.19 for annealed diode in the temperature range of 100-500 K, respectively. The I-V characteristics of the diode showed an increase in the Schottky barrier height, along with a reduction of the device leakage current by annealing the diode at 973 K for 2 min.     

Defect-engineering in SiC by ion implantation and electron irradiation

Three examples are given, which show that ion implantation and electron irradiation can drastically modify the electrical properties of SiC and SiC-based MOS capacitors. (1) It is demonstrated that sulphur ions (S⁺) implanted into 6H-SiC act as double donors with ground states ranging from 310 to 635 meV below the conduction bandedge. (2) Co-implantation of nitrogen (N⁺) - and silicon (Si⁺) - ions into 4H-SiC leads to a strong deactivation of N donors. Additional experiments with electron (e⁻)-irradiated 4H-SiC samples (E(e⁻) = 200 keV) support the idea that this deactivation is due to the formation of an electrically neutral (N_x-V_C, y)-complex. (3) Implantation of a surface-near Gaussian profile into n-type 4H-SiC followed by a standard oxidation process leads to a strong reduction of the density of interface traps D_it close to the conduction bandedge in n-type 4H-SiC/SiO₂ MOS capacitors.     

Electrical Characteristics of 10-kV 4H-SiC MPS Rectifiers with High Schottky Barrier Height

This paper reports the study of the fabrication and characterization results of 10-kilo-volt (kV) 4H-SiC merged PiN/Schottky rectifiers. A metal contact process was developed to make the Schottky contact on n-type SiC and ohmic contact on p-type SiC at the same time. The diodes with different Schottky contact width were fabricated and characterized for comparison. With the improvement quality of the Schottky contact and the passivation layer, the devices show low leakage current up to 10 kV. The on-state characteristics from room temperature to elevated temperature (423 K) were demonstrated and compared between structures with different Schottky contact width.     

Thermally annealed Ni/n-GaAs(Si)/In Schottky barrier diodes

We have identically prepared as many as eight Ni/n-GaAs/In Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) using an n-type GaAs substrate with a doping density of about 7.3 × 10¹⁵ cm⁻³. The thermal stability of the Ni/n-GaAs/In Schottky diodes has been investigated by means of current-voltage (I-V) techniques after annealed for 1 min in N₂ atmosphere from 200 to 700 °C. For Ni/n-GaAs/In SBDs, the Schottky barrier height Φ_b and ideality factor n values range from 0.853 ± 0.012 eV and 1.061 ± 0.007 (for as-deposited sample) to 0.785 ± 0.002 eV and 1.209 ± 0.005 (for 600 °C annealing). The ideality factor values remained about unchanged up to 400 °C annealing. The I-V characteristics of the devices deteriorated at 700 °C annealing.     

Influence of Annealing on Electrical Properties of an Organic Thin Layer-Based n-Type InP Schottky Barrier Diode

The electrical properties of a fabricated Au/polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA)/n-InP Schottky barrier diode have been analyzed for different annealing temperatures using current–voltage (I–V) and capacitance–voltage (C–V) techniques. It is observed that the Au/PMMA/n-InP structure shows excellent rectifying behavior. The extracted barrier height and ideality factor of the as-deposited Au/PMMA/n-InP Schottky contact are 0.68 eV (J–V)/0.82 eV (C–V) and 1.57, respectively. However, the barrier height (BH) of the Au/PMMA/n-InP Schottky contact increases to 0.78 eV (J–V)/0.99 eV (C–V) when the contact is annealed at 150°C for 1 min in nitrogen atmosphere. Upon annealing at 200°C, the BH value decreases to 0.72 eV (J–V)/0.90 eV (C–V) and the ideality factor increases to 1.48. The PMMA layer increases the effective barrier height of the structure by creating a physical barrier between the Au metal and the n-InP. Cheung’s functions are also used to calculate the series resistance of the Au/PMMA/n-InP structure. The interface state density (N _ss) is found to be 6.380 × 10¹² cm^?2 eV^?1 and 1.916 × 10¹² cm^?2 eV^?1 for the as-deposited and 150°C-annealed Au/PMMA/n-InP Schottky contacts, respectively. These results indicate that the interface state density and series resistance have a significant effect on the electrical characteristics of Au/PMMA/n-InP Schottky barrier devices. Finally, it is noted that the diode parameters change with increasing annealing temperature.