Accurate surface potential determination in Schottky diodes by use of correlated current and capacitance voltage measurements. Application to n–InP

Accurate surface potential determination in Schottky diodes by the use of a correlated current and capacitance voltage measurements. Application to n-InP

Based on current voltage (I-V_g) and capacitance voltage (C-V_g) measurements, a reliable procedure is proposed to determine the effective surface potential V_d.V_g/ in Schottky diodes. In the framework of thermionic emission, our analysis includes both the effect of the series resistance and the ideality factor, even voltage dependent. This technique is applied to n-type indium phosphide (n-InP) Schottky diodes with and without an interfacial layer and allows us to provide an interpretation of the observed peak on the C-V_g measurements. The study clearly shows that the depletion width and the flat band barrier height deduced from C-V_g, which are important parameters directly related to the surface potential in the semiconductor, should be estimated within our approach to obtain more reliable information.