Barrier height inhomogeneities in InN/GaN heterostructure based Schottky junctions

The electrical transport properties of InN/GaN heterostructure based Schottky junctions were studied over a wide temperature range of 200-500 K. The barrier height and the ideality factor were calculated from current-voltage (I-V) characteristics based on thermionic emission (TE), and found to be temperature dependent. The barrier height was found to increase and the ideality factor to decrease with increasing temperature. The observed temperature dependence of the barrier height indicates that the Schottky barrier height is inhomogeneous in nature at the heterostructure interface. Such inhomogeneous behavior was modeled by assuming the existence of a Gaussian distribution of barrier heights at the heterostructure interface.     

Effect of ambient temperature on electrical properties of nanostructure n-ZnO/p-Si heterojunction diode

The nanostructure n-ZnO/p-Si heterojunction diode was fabricated by sol–gel method. The structural and morphological properties of the nanostructure ZnO film have been investigated. The X-ray diffraction spectra indicated that the films are of polycrystalline nature. The scanning electron microscopy images indicate that the surface morphology of ZnO film is almost homogeneous and the ZnO film is consisted of the circular formed with coming together of the nanoparticles. The electrical characterization of nanostructure n-ZnO/p-Si heterojunction diode has been investigated by current–voltage characteristics. The ideality factor (n) of the diode was found for different ambient temperatures and the obtained 6.40 value for 296 K is higher than unity due to the interface states between the two semiconductor materials and series resistance. The values of n increased with decreasing ambient temperature. The reverse current of the diode increased with illumination intensity of 100 mW cm⁻² and the diode gave a maximum open circuit voltage V_oc of 0.19 V and short-circuits current I_sc of 8.03 × 10⁻⁸ A.     

Electrical and interface characteristics of nanocrystalline n-Zn0.5Cd0.5S/p-Cu2S heterojunction structure prepared by dip coating

Nanocrystalline of n-Zn_0.5Cd_0.5S/p-Cu₂S heterojunctions were successfully prepared by the dip coating method. The surface morphology and the composition analysis were made by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive x-ray (EDX) technique, respectively. Temperature dependent current–voltage characteristics of the heterojunctions were measured in the temperature range 300–400 K with a step of 25 K. The current–voltage (I–V) characteristics exhibit electrical rectification behavior. The zero bias barrier height (Φ_B0) and the ideality factor (n) are affected by temperature. Interface states at the n-Zn_0.5Cd_0.5S/p-Cu₂S heterojunction play a crucial role in determining the electrical characteristics of the heterojunction. The high value of n can be ascribed to the presence of an interfacial layer. The energy distribution profile of the density of interface states (N_ss) was extracted from the forward bias I–V measurements using the width of the depletion region deduced from the capacitance -voltage characteristics at high frequency (1MHz).     

Forward and reverse bias current-voltage characteristics of Au/n-Si Schottky barrier diodes with and without SnO2 insulator layer

The effects of interfacial insulator layer, interface states (N_ss) and series resistance (R_s) on the electrical characteristics of Au/n-Si structures have been investigated using forward and reverse bias current-voltage (I-V) characteristics at room temperature. Therefore, Au/n-Si Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) were fabricated as SBDs with and without insulator SnO₂ layer to explain the effect of insulator layer on main electrical parameters. The values of ideality factor (n), R_s and barrier height (Φ_Bo) were calculated from ln(I) vs. V plots and Cheung methods. The energy density distribution profile of the interface states was obtained from the forward bias I-V data by taking bias dependence of ideality factor, effective barrier height (Φ_e) and R_s into account for MS and MIS SBDs. It was found that N_ss values increase from at about mid-gap energy of Si to bottom of conductance band edge of both SBDs and the MIS SBD’s N_ss values are 5-10 times lower than those of MS SBD’s. An apparent exponential increase from the mid-gap towards the bottom of conductance band is observed for both SBDs’ (MS and MIS) interface states obtained without taking R_s into account.     

Nanoparticles of Ni(II) and Co(II) metallo-organic molecular materials

We have investigated the effect of thermal annealing on the diode characteristics of solution-processed novel core–shell coaxial n–p nanorods heterojunction consisting of n-type ZnO as a core and p-type CuS as a shell material. The values of turn-on-voltage, rectification ratio, reverse saturation current density, barrier height, and ideality factors have been improved as the as-prepared heterojunction is annealed at higher temperatures owing to the improvement in the interface between ZnO and CuS as evidenced from the high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The X-ray diffraction results also confirm the improvement in the crystalline quality of ZnO and CuS through annealing. The experimental current–voltage data are consistent with the presence of dominating recombination-tunneling conduction occurring through the interface defect states between ZnO and CuS. The results demonstrate that an annealing process plays a dominant role in the interfacial defects which helps to modify the diode performance paving a way to cheaper electronic nanodevices.     

Effect of annealing temperature on the electrical properties of Au/Ta2O5/n-GaN metal–insulator–semiconductor (MIS) structure

We report on the effect of an annealing temperature on the electrical properties of Au/Ta₂O₅/n-GaN metal–insulator–semiconductor (MIS) structure by current–voltage (I–V) and capacitance–voltage (C–V) measurements. The measured Schottky barrier height (Φ _bo) and ideality factor n values of the as-deposited Au/Ta₂O₅/n-GaN MIS structure are 0.93 eV (I–V) and 1.19. The barrier height (BH) increases to 1.03 eV and ideality factor decreases to 1.13 upon annealing at 500 ^°C for 1 min under nitrogen ambient. When the contact is annealed at 600 ^°C, the barrier height decreases and the ideality factor increases to 0.99 eV and 1.15. The barrier heights obtained from the C–V measurements are higher than those obtained from I–V measurements, and this indicates the existence of spatial inhomogeneity at the interface. Cheung’s functions are also used to calculate the barrier height (Φ _bo), ideality factor (n), and series resistance (R _s ) of the Au/Ta₂O₅/n-GaN MIS structure. Investigations reveal that the Schottky emission is the dominant mechanism and the Poole–Frenkel emission occurs only in the high voltage region. The energy distribution of interface states is determined from the forward bias I–V characteristics by taking into account the bias dependence of the effective barrier height. It is observed that the density value of interface states for the annealed samples with interfacial layer is lower than that of the density value of interface states of the as-deposited sample.     

Prediction of barrier inhomogeneities and carrier transport in Ni-silicided Schottky diode

Based on Quantum Mechanical (QM) carrier transport and the effects of interface states, a theoretical model has been developed to predict the anomalous current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of a non-ideal Ni-silicided Schottky diode at low temperatures. Physical parameters such as barrier height, ideality factor, series resistance and effective Richardson constant of a silicided Schottky diode were extracted from forward I-V characteristics and are subsequently used for the simulation of both forward and reverse I-V characteristics using a QM transport model in which the effects of interface state and bias dependent barrier reduction are incorporated. The present analysis indicates that the effects of barrier inhomogeneity caused by incomplete silicide formation at the junction and the interface states may change the conventional current transport process, leading to anomalous forward and reverse I-V characteristics for the Ni-silicided Schottky diode.     

Barrier height enhancement and temperature dependence of the electrical characteristics of Al Schottky contacts on p-GaAs with organic Rhodamine B interfacial layer

In this work, two types of Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) with and without Rhodamine B interfacial layer, were fabricated and measured at room temperature in order to investigate the effects of the Rhodamine B interfacial layer on the main electrical parameters. It was seen that the barrier height (BH) value of 0.78 eV calculated for the Al/Rhodamine B/p-GaAs device was higher than the value of 0.63 eV of the conventional Al/p-GaAs Schottky diodes. It has been observed that the Rhodamine B film increases the effective BH by influencing the space charge region of GaAs. The main diode parameters such as the ideality factor (n) and zero-bias BH of SBD with Rhodamine B interfacial layer were found to be strongly temperature dependent and while the BH decreases, the ideality factor increases with decreasing temperature. It has been concluded that the temperature dependent characteristic parameters for Al/Rhodamine B/p-GaAs SBDs can be successfully explained on the basis of thermionic emission (TE) mechanism with Gaussian distribution of the barrier heights.     

Current transport in forward biased schottky barriers on low doped n-type InSb

Measurements of the forward current characteristics and the barrier heights of Schottky barriers on chemically etched low-doped n-InSb surfaces have been performed. The barrier height determined from the $\text{1}\text{C}{}^2$ versus V plot is in good agreement with the value from the thermal activation energy, while the barrier height obtained from the saturation current deviates to a great extent. The difference can be seen to correlate with the ideality factor of the forward I–V characteristics. This irregular behaviour is attributed to the presence of a thin interfacial dielectric layer and to an ideality factor due to the Shockley-Read-Hall (SRH) controlled occupation of the interface states.     

Effects of ageing on the electrical characteristics of Cd/CdS/n-Si/Au–Sb structure deposited by SILAR method

Cd/CdS/n-Si/Au–Sb structure has been fabricated by the Successive Ionic Layer Adsorption and Reaction (SILAR) method and the influence of the time dependent or ageing on the characteristic parameters are examined. The current–voltage (I–V), capacitance–voltage (C–V) and capacitance–frequency (C–f) characteristics of the structure have been measured immediately, 1, 3, 5, 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, 90, 105, 120, 135, 150 and 165 days after fabrication of the structure. The characteristic parameters of the structure such as barrier height, ideality factor, series resistance are calculated from the I–V measurements and the barrier height, carrier concentration values are calculated from reverse bias C^?2–V measurements at 500 kHz and room temperature. Furthermore, the density distribution and time constant of the interface states have been calculated from the C–f measurements using the Schottky Capacitance Spectroscopy method as a function of ageing time. It has been seen that the changes of characteristic parameters such as barrier height, ideality factor and series resistance of Cd/CdS/n-Si/Au–Sb structure have lightly changed with increasing ageing time. At the same time, the rectifying ratio of the device increases with ageing time. It can be clearly said that the I–V characteristics of device get better with time.     

Analysis of interface states and series resistance for Al/PVA:n-CdS nanocomposite metal–semiconductor and metal–insulator–semiconductor diode structures

This paper presents the fabrication and characterization of Al/PVA:n-CdS (MS) and Al/Al₂O₃/PVA:n-CdS (MIS) diode. The effects of interfacial insulator layer, interface states (N _ss ) and series resistance (R _s ) on the electrical characteristics of Al/PVA:n-CdS structures have been investigated using forward and reverse bias I–V, C–V, and G/w–V characteristics at room temperature. Al/PVA:n-CdS diode is fabricated with and without insulator Al₂O₃ layer to explain the effect of insulator layer on main electrical parameters. The values of the ideality factor (n), series resistance (R _s ) and barrier height (? _b ) are calculated from ln(I) vs. V plots, by the Cheung and Norde methods. The energy density distribution profile of the interface states is obtained from the forward bias I–V data by taking into account the bias dependence ideality factor (n(V)) and effective barrier height (? _e ) for MS and MIS diode. The N _ss values increase from mid-gap energy of CdS to the bottom of the conductance band edge for both MS and MIS diode.     

Comparison of electrical parameters of Zn/p-Si and Sn/p-Si Schottky barrier diodes

In this study, current-voltage (I-V) and capacitance-voltage (C-V) characteristics of metal-semiconductor (MS) Zn/p-Si and Sn/p-Si Schottky diodes, with high resistivity silicon structures, are investigated. The parameters of series resistance (R_S), the ideality factor (n) and the barrier height (Φ_b) are determined by performing different plots from the forward bias current-voltage (I-V) and reverse bias capacitance-voltage (C-V) characteristics. Thus, the barrier heights (Φ_b) for the Si Schottky diodes obtained between 0.725 and 1.051 eV, the ideality factor (n) between 1.043 and 1.309, and the series resistance (R_S) between 12.594 and 12.950 kΩ. The energy distribution of interface states density was determined from the forward bias I-V characteristics by taking into account the bias dependence of the effective barrier height. It was concluded that the density of interface states in the considered energy range are in close agreement with each other values obtained for Zn/p-Si and Sn/p-Si Schottky diodes.     

Studying of barrier height and ideality factor relation in the nano sized Au-n type Si Schottky diodes

The results of formation of the operating potential barrier height (Φ_в) of inhomogeneous Schottky diodes (SD) in view of an additional electric field in the near contact region of the semiconductor and features of its dependence on the external applied voltage are presented. A correlation, between SD heterogeneity and dependence between potential barrier height (Φ_в) and ideality factor (n), is presented. Using conducting probe atomic force microscope (CP-AFM) techniques, it is shown that Au/n-Si diodes consist of sets of parallel-connected and cooperating nano diodes with the contact surfaces sizes in the order of 100-200 nm. The effective Φ_в and ideality factors of the SD have been obtained from the current-voltage (I-V) characteristics, which were measured using a CP-AFM along a contact surface. It was experimentally shown that the forward and reverse part of I-V characteristics and their effective Φ_в and ideality factors of the identically fabricated nano-SD differ from diode to diode. The Φ_в for the nano-SD has ranged from 0.565 to 0.723 eV and ideality factor from 1.11 to 1.98. No correlation can be found between the Φ_в and ideality factor. The Φ_в distribution obtained from the I-V characteristics has been fitted by a Gaussian function but the ideality factor distribution could not be fitted by a Gaussian function.     

Electrical characterization of p-ZnO/p-Si heterojunction

Nitrogen doped p-ZnO film, with urea as nitrogen source, is fabricated by pulsed laser deposition on well-cleaned p-type (1 0 0) Si substrates. The structural and electrical properties of the p-p heterojunction are investigated by current-voltage (I-V) and capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurements. It shows a diode-like behavior with turn-on voltage of 0.5 V. The ideality factor η determined by applying positive potential in p-ZnO and negative potential along p-Si is found to be 6. Such a high value of η is attributed to lattice mismatch between ZnO and Si. and other factors responsible are thermoionic emission, minority carrier injection and recombination. C-V results indicate an abrupt interface and a band bending of 0.9 V in the silicon. Heterojunction band diagram for p-ZnO/p-Si is proposed.     

Heterojunction between crystalline silicon and nanocomposite coupled ZnO·SnO2 and optimization of its photovoltaic performance

In this work coupled ZnO·SnO₂ nanocomposite has been used as heterojunction partner to Si for photovoltaic application and its performance is optimized. The interface defect more than 10¹² cm⁻² reduces the short circuit current density, fill factor and efficiency of the device. In addition, the best device performance is observed at the vicinity of 280K. The junction of the device has a dark saturation current density and ideality factor of the order of 10⁻⁴ Acm⁻² and 21 respectively. In addition, four different organic materials are used as back surface field layer (BSL) to the same device and performance is improved. The best conversion efficiency and open circuit voltage as high as 4.1% and 0.591 V respectively are obtained for the device with CuSCN as BSL. Consequently, a range of combined values of the energy band gap and electron affinity of the BSL materials are examined for optimal device performance.     

Characteristics of p-ZnO/n-GaN heterojunction photodetector

Thin film heterojuction of the type p-ZnO/n-GaN was prepared by spray pyrolysis and electron beam evaporation technique, respectively. Hall measurements demonstrate the firm p-type conductivity of the p-doped ZnO film. The structural and electrical properties of the p-ZnO/n-GaN heterojunction are investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and current-voltage (I-V) measurements. The XRD shows that the p-ZnO/n-GaN heterojunction is highly crystalline in nature with preferred orientation along the [0001] direction. The current-voltage curve of the heterojunction demonstrates obvious rectifying diode behavior in the dark and under illumination conditions. The ideality factor of the detector was determined in case of forward bias at low voltages and it was found to be 13.35. The turn-on voltage appears at about 1V under forward-biased voltage, and the reverse breakdown voltage is about 4V. It was found that the current of the illumination increases with the increase of bias voltages.     

Current–voltage characteristics of Al/Rhodamine-101/n-GaAs structures in the wide temperature range

The forward bias current–voltage (I–V) characteristics of Al/Rhodamine-101/n-GaAs structure have been investigated in the temperature range of 80–350 K. It has been seen a decrease in ideality factor (n) and an increase in the zero-bias barrier height (BH) with an increase in temperature. It has been seen that such a behavior of the BH and n obey Gaussian distribution of the BHs due to the BH inhomogeneities at the metal/semiconductor (MS) interface. The very strong temperature dependence of ideality factor of the structure has shown that the current processes occurring in the organic layer at the MS interface would be a possible candidate such as trap-charge limited conduction in determining the current at the intermediate and high bias regimes. Furthermore, it has been show that the Rh101 can be used to vary effective BHs for the metal/GaAs Schottky diodes. As a result, it has been determined that the BH value for conventional Al/n-GaAs SBD is remarkably higher than our own values of 0.68 eV obtained for the Al/Rh101/n-GaAs at 290 K.     

Effect of dimethyl sulfoxide on the electrical properties of PEDOT:PSS/n-Si heterojunction diodes

Effect of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) on the electrical properties of PEDOT:PSS/n-Si heterojunction diodes has been studied. Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) was deposited on n-type Si wafer using facile process of spin coating. The DMSO content was varied from 0 to 8 vol%. Electrical characterization of these heterojunction diodes as performed using both current–voltage (I–V) and capacitance–voltage (C–V) measurements. All diodes showed rectifying behavior. AFM measurement revealed that the surface became more rough after the DMSO treatment of PEDOT:PSS films. The RMS values were found in the range of 4–6 nm. The resistivity of the PEDOT:PSS films decreased with increase in temperature. The addition of DMSO into PEDOT:PSS solution results in a decrease in resistivity of films by approximately two orders of magnitude. PEDOT:PSS films showed high transmission more than 85% in the entire visible region. Raman spectroscopy indicated effect of the DMSO treatment on the chemical structure of PEDOT chains, suggesting a conformational change of PEDOT chain in the film. An optimal value of DMSO was obtained with 5 vol% content, and it showed the best PEDOT:PSS films properties and good quality heterojunction diodes characteristics with ideality factor of 2.4 and barrier height 0.80 eV.     

A study of electrical properties of dislocation engineered Si processed by ultrasound

This work presents experimental study of electrical properties of dislocation engineered Si p-n junction before and after the influence of ultrasound waves. We have studied current-voltage characteristics in the dark and upon illumination for forward and reverse biases before and after ultrasound processing. By fitting the theoretically established current-voltage dependence to the experimentally measured ones, the diode ideality factor and saturation current have been estimated. It is found that current transport through the dislocation-engineered Si p-n junction can be controlled by generation-recombination or tunneling recombination mechanisms. Ultrasound is found to modulate electrical properties of the dislocation engineered Si.