Influence of rapid thermal annealing on electrical and structural properties of double metal structure Au/Ni/n-InP (1 1 1) diodes

The effect of rapid thermal annealing on the electrical and structural properties of Ni/Au Schottky contacts on n-InP have been investigated by current–voltage (I–V), capacitance–voltage (C–V), auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. The Au/Ni/n-InP Schottky contacts are rapid thermally annealed in the temperature range of 200–500 °C for a duration of 1 min. The Schottky barrier height of as-deposited Ni/Au Schottky contact has been found to be 0.50 eV (I–V) and 0.86 eV (C–V), respectively. It has been found that the Schottky barrier height decreased with increasing annealing temperature as compared to as-deposited sample. The barrier height values obtained are 0.43 eV (I–V), 0.72 eV (C–V) for the samples annealed at 200 °C, 0.45 eV (I–V) and 0.73 eV (C–V) for those at 400 °C. Further increase in annealing temperature to 500 °C the barrier height slightly increased to 0.46 eV (I–V) and 0.78 eV (C–V) compared to the values obtained for the samples annealed at 200 °C and 400 °C. AES and XRD studies showed the formation of indium phases at the Ni/Au and InP interface and may be the reason for the increase in barrier height. The AFM results showed that there is no significant degradation in the surface morphology (rms roughness of 1.56 nm) of the contact even after annealing at 500 °C.     

The effects of annealing on Au/pyronine-B/MD n-InP Schottky structure

Thin film of non-polymeric organic compound pyronine-B has been fabricated on moderately doped (MD) n-InP substrate as an interfacial layer using spin coating technique for the electronic modification of Au/MD n-InP Schottky contact. The electrical characteristics have been determined at room temperature. The barrier height and the ideality factor values for Au/pyronine-B/MD n-InP Schottky diode have been obtained from the forward bias I-V characteristics at room temperature as 0.60 eV and 1.041; 0.571 and 1.253 eV after annealing at 100 and 250 °C, respectively. An increase in annealing temperature at the Au/n-InP Schottky junction is shown to increase the reverse bias leakage current by about one order of magnitude and decrease the Schottky barrier height by 0.027 eV. Furthermore, the barrier height values for the Au/pyronine-B/MD n-InP Schottky diode have also been obtained from the C-V characteristics at room temperature as 1.001 and 0.709 eV after annealing at 100 and 250 °C, respectively. Finally, it was seen that the diode parameters changed with increase in the annealing temperature.     

Electrical properties and conduction mechanism of an organic-modified Au/NiPc/n-InP Schottky barrier diode

The effect of nickel phthalocyanine (NiPc) organic interlayer on the electronic parameters of Au/n-InP Schottky contacts has been investigated using current–voltage (I–V) and capacitance–voltage (C–V) measurements. Measurements showed that the barrier heights and ideality factors are 0.58 eV (I–V), 0.69 eV(C–V) and 1.32 for Au/n-InP Schottky contact and 0.80 eV (I–V), 1.12 eV (C–V) and 1.73 for Au/NiPc/n-InP Schottky contact, respectively. Experimental results show that the interfacial layer of NiPc increases the effective barrier height by the influence of the space charge region of the Au/n-InP Schottky junction. Further, Cheung’s and modified Norde functions are used to extract the barrier height, series resistance and ideality factors. The discrepancy between barrier heights estimated from I–V to C–V methods is also explained. Moreover, the energy distribution of interface state density is determined from the forward bias I–V data. Results show that the interface states and series resistance play an important role on electrical properties of the structures studied. The reverse leakage current conduction mechanism is investigated. Results reveal that the Schottky conduction mechanism is found to be dominant in the Au/n-InP Schottky contact. However, in the case of Au/NiPc/n-InP Schottky contact, the Schottky conduction mechanism is found to be dominant in the higher bias region, while Poole–Frenkel conduction is found to be dominant in the lower bias region.     

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.     

Thermal annealing effects on I–V–T characteristics of sputtered Cr/n-GaAs diodes

Sputtered Cr/n-GaAs Schottky diodes have been prepared and annealed at 200 and 400 °C. The current–voltage (I–V) characteristics of the as-deposited and annealed diodes have been measured in the temperature range of 60–320 K with steps of 20 K. The effect of thermal annealing on the temperature-dependent I–V characteristics of the diodes has been investigated experimentally. The ideality factor and barrier height (BH) values for 400 °C annealed diode approximately remain unchanged from 120 to 320 K, and those of the as-deposited sample from 160 to 320 K. The departures from ideality at low temperatures have been ascribed to the lateral fluctuations of the BH. The BH values of 0.61 and 0.74 eV for the as-deposited and 400 °C annealed diodes were obtained at room temperature, respectively. A Richardson constant value of 9.83 A cm⁻² K⁻² for 400 °C annealed Schottky diode, which is in close agreement with the known value of 8.16 A cm⁻² K⁻² for n-type GaAs. Furthermore, T₀ anomaly values of 15.52, 10.68 and 5.35 for the as-deposited and 200 and 400 °C annealed diodes were obtained from the nT versus T plots. Thus, it has been seen that the interface structure and quality improve by the thermal annealing at 400 °C.     

The electrical properties of metal-oxide-semiconductor devices fabricated on the chemically etched n-InP substrate

The electrical properties of the Cu/n-InP and Al/n-InP Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) with and without the interfacial oxide layer have been investigated by using current-voltage (I-V) measurements. The oxide layer on chemically cleaned indium phosphide (InP) surface has been obtained by exposure to water vapor at 1 ml/min at 200 °C before metal evaporation. The chemical composition of surface oxides grown on the InP is investigated using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Phosphorus is present as In(PO₃)₃, InPO₄, P₂O₅ and P₄O₁₀. The values of 0.437 ± 0.007 and 0.438 ± 0.003 eV for the barrier height of the reference Cu/n-InP and Al/n-InP SBDs were obtained, respectively. Furthermore, the values of 0.700 ± 0.030 and 0.517 ± 0.023 eV for the barrier height of the oxidized Cu/n-InP and Al/n-InP SBD were obtained, respectively. The transport properties of the metal-semiconductor contacts have been observed to be significantly affected by the presence of the interfacial oxide layer. Devices built on the oxidized surfaces show improved characteristics compared with those built on chemically cleaned surfaces. The chemical reactivity of the metal with oxide and n-InP is important to the formation of the Schottky barriers. The reactive metal Al gave a low barrier height due to the reduction of oxide and reaction with InP. The transmission coefficients for the oxidized Cu/n-InP and Al/n-InP are equal to 2.23 × 10⁻⁵ and 4.60 × 10⁻², respectively.     

Annealing and measurement temperature dependence of W2B5-based rectifying contacts to n-GaN

The thermal stability and measurement temperature dependence of Schottky contact characteristics on n-GaN using a W₂B₅/Ti/Au metallization scheme was studied using current-voltage (I-V), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) measurements. The elemental profile obtained from samples annealed at 350 °C showed some titanium diffusion into the gold layer but little other difference from the as-deposited wafer. Annealing at 700 °C produced significant diffusion of titanium. The Schottky barrier height increased with anneal temperature up to 200 °C, reaching a maximum value of 0.65 eV, but decreased at higher annealing temperatures. The reverse breakdown voltage from diodes fabricated using the W₂B₅-based contacts showed a similar dependence. The reverse current magnitude was larger than predicted by thermionic emission alone. The barrier height showed only minor changes with measurement temperature up to 150 °C.     

Determination of the laterally homogeneous barrier height of thermally annealed and unannealed Au/p-InP/Zn-Au Schottky barrier diodes

We have identically prepared Au/p-InP Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs). The diodes were annealed up to 400 °C thermally. The barrier height (BH) for the as-deposited Au/p-InP/Zn-Au SBDs from the current-voltage characteristics have varied from 0.58 to 0.72 eV, and ideality factor n from 1.14 to 1.47. The BH for the annealed SBDs from the current-voltage characteristics have varied from 0.76 to 0.82 eV, and ideality factor n from 1.17 to 1.39. As a result of the thermal annealing, it has been seen that the BH values of the annealed SBDs are larger than those of the as-deposited SBDs. We have determined a lateral homogeneous BH value of 0.72 eV for the as-deposited Au/p-InP SBD from the experimental linear relationship between barrier heights and ideality factors, and a value of 0.85 eV for the annealed Au/p-InP SBD. The increase of 0.13 eV in the BH value by means of 400 °C annealing has been ascribed to the formation of the excess charges that electrically actives on the semiconductor surface.     

Improved device performance in nonpolar a ‐plane GaN LEDs using a Ni/Al/Ni/Au n‐type ohmic contact

The authors report upon the increased light‐output power (P_out) via a reduction in the forward voltage (V_f) for nonpolar a ‐plane GaN LEDs using Ni/Al/Ni/Au n‐type ohmic contacts. The specific contact resistivity of the Ni/Al/Ni/Au contact is found to be as low as 5.6 × 10^–5 whereas that of a typical Ti/Al/Ni/Au contact is 6.8 × 10^–4 Ω cm², after annealing at 700 °C. The X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy results show that the upward surface band bending is less pronounced for the Ni/Al contact compared to the Ti/Al contact, leading to a decrease in the effective Schottky barrier height (SBH). The V_f of the nonpolar LEDs decreases by 10% and P_out increases by 15% when the Ni/Al/Ni/Au scheme is used instead of the typical Ti/Al/Ni/Au metal scheme. (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Analysis of current–voltage and capacitance–voltage characteristics of perylene-monoimide/n-Si Schottky contacts

The electrical and interface state properties of Au/perylene-monoimide (PMI)/n-Si Schottky barrier diode have been investigated by current–voltage (I–V) and capacitance–voltage (C–V) measurements at room temperature. A good rectifying behavior was seen from the I–V characteristics. The series resistance (R_s) values were determined from I–V and C–V characteristics and were found to be 160 Ω and 53 Ω, respectively. The barrier height (Φ_b) of Au/PMI/n-Si Schottky diode was found to be 0.694 eV (I–V) and 0.826 eV (C–V). The ideality factor (n) was obtained to be 4.27 from the forward bias I–V characteristics. The energy distribution of interface state density (N_ss) of the PMI-based structure was determined, and the energy values of N_ss were found in the range from E_c ? 0.508 eV to E_c ? 0.569 eV with the exponential growth from midgap toward the bottom of the conduction band. The values of the N_ss without R_s are 2.11 × 10¹² eV^?1 cm^?2 at E_c ? 0.508 eV and 2.00 × 10¹² eV^?1 cm^?2 at E_c ? 0.569 eV. Based on the above results, it is clear that modification of the interfacial potential barrier for metal/n-Si structures has been achieved using a thin interlayer of the perylene-monomide.     

Characterization of Al/Si junctions on Si(100) wafers with chemical vapor deposition-based sulfur passivation

Chemical vapor deposition-based sulfur passivation using hydrogen sulfide is carried out on both n-type and p-type Si(100) wafers. Al contacts are fabricated on sulfur-passivated Si(100) wafers and the resultant Schottky barriers are characterized with current–voltage (I–V), capacitance–voltage (C–V) and activation-energy methods. Al/S-passivated n-type Si(100) junctions exhibit ohmic behavior with a barrier height of <0.078 eV by the I–V method and significantly lower than 0.08 eV by the activation-energy method. For Al/S-passivated p-type Si(100) junctions, the barrier height is ~0.77 eV by I–V and activation-energy methods and 1.14 eV by the C–V method. The discrepancy between C–V and other methods is explained by image force-induced barrier lowering and edge-leakage current. The I–V behavior of an Al/S-passivated p-type Si(100) junction remains largely unchanged after 300 °C annealing in air. It is also discovered that heating the S-passivated Si(100) wafer before Al deposition significantly improves the thermal stability of an Al/S-passivated n-type Si(100) junction to 500 °C.     

The influence of annealing temperature and tellurium (Te) on electrical and dielectrical properties of Al/p-CIGSeTe/Mo Schottky diodes

p-CuIn_0.7Ga_0.3(Se_(1?x)Te_x)₂ type thin films were synthesized by thermal evaporation method on Mo coated glass substrates. To obtain Al/CuIn_0.7Ga_0.3(Se_(1?x)Te_x)₂/Mo Schottky diode structure for two compositions of x = 0.0 and 0.6, Al metal was evaporated on upper surface of CuIn_0.7Ga_0.3(Se_(1?x)Te_x)₂ as a front contact. Al/p-CuIn_0.7Ga_0.3(Se_(1?x)Te_x)₂/Mo structures were annealed temperature range from 150 °C to 300 °C for 10 min under vacuum. The electrical and dielectrical properties of Al/p-CuIn_0.7Ga_0.3(Se_(1?x)Te_x)₂ (CIGSeTe) Schottky barrier diodes (SBD) have been investigated. Capacitance–Voltage (C–V) characteristics, Conductance–Voltage (G/w–V) characteristics and interface state density were studied in order to obtain electrical and dielectrical parameters. The effects of interface state density (N_ss), series resistance (R_s), the dielectric constant (?′), dielectric loss (?″), dielectric loss tangent (tan δ), ac electrical conductivity (σ_ac) and carrier doping densities were calculated from the C–V and G/w–V measurements and plotted as a function of annealing temperature. It was observed that the values of carrier doping density N_A for annealing temperature at 150 °C decreased from 2.83 × 10⁺¹⁵ cm^?3 to 2.87 × 10⁺¹⁴ cm^?3 with increasing Te content from x = 0.0 to 0.6. The series resistance for x = 0.0 found to be between 10 and 75 Ω and between 50 and 230 Ω for x = 0.6 in the range of annealing temperature at 150–300 °C.     

Optoelectronic characterization of Au/Ni/n-AlGaN photodiodes after annealing at different temperatures

The optoelectronic characteristics of Ni/Au Schottky photodiodes based on Al_0.35Ga_0.65N were investigated. The transmission of the Ni (50 Å)/Au (50 Å) layer was determined by evaporating it on a quartz substrate. As evaporated, the transmission coefficient in the 200–350 nm wavelength range was found to be 43 to 48%. Annealing at temperatures of up to 400 °C did not influence the transmission coefficient. After annealing at 500 °C, the transmission coefficient increased from 50 to 68% over the 200–350 nm range. The reverse bias current was optimised in terms of annealing temperature and was found to be as low as 1.94×10⁻¹³ A after annealing at 400 °C for a 0.6 mm diameter contact. The Schottky barrier heights increased with annealing temperature reaching as high as 1.46 and 1.89 eV for I–V and C–V measurements, respectively. The quantum efficiency was measured to be 20.5% and the responsivity reached its peak of 0.046 A/W at 275 nm. The cut-off wavelength was 292 nm.     

AlGaN/GaN异质结Ni/Au肖特基表面处理及退火研究

采用O₂等离子体及HF溶液对AlGaN/GaN异质结材料进行表面处理后，Ni/Au肖特基接触特性比未处理有了明显改善，反向泄漏电流减小3个数量级.对制备的肖特基接触进行200—600℃ 5min的N₂气氛退火，发现退火冷却后肖特基反向泄漏电流随退火温度增大进一步减小.N₂气中600℃退火后肖特基二极管C-V特性曲线在不同频率下一致性变好，这表明退火中Ni向材料表面扩散减小了表面陷阱密度；C-V特性曲线随退火温度增大向右移动，从二维电子气耗尽电压绝对值减小反映了肖特基势垒的提高. 关键词： AlGaN/GaN 肖特基接触 表面处理 退火     

Micro-structural and temperature dependent electrical characterization of Ni/GaN Schottky barrier diodes

Micro-structural investigation of Ni/GaN Schottky barrier diodes has been carried out using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and electron diffraction spectrum in order to emphasize the role of Ni/GaN interface in controlling the Schottky diode behavior. Variable temperature Hall effect measurement of GaN samples along with the current–voltage (I–V) characteristics of Ni/n-GaN Schottky barrier diodes have been measured in 100–380 K temperature range. Results are analyzed in terms of thermionic emission theory by incorporating the concept of barrier inhomogeneity at the metal/semiconductor interface. The observed anomaly of temperature dependence of Schottky barrier height and ideality factor are explained by invoking two sets of Gaussian distribution of SBH in the temperature ranges of 100–180 K and 220–380 K, respectively. The value of A** (effective Richardson constant) as determined from the modified Richardson plot is 29.2 A/(cm² K²), which shows an excellent agreement with the theoretical value (26.4 A/(cm² K²)) in the temperature range of 220–380 K.     

The annealing effect on structural,optical and photoelectrical properties of CuInS2/In2S3 films

Successive Ionic Layer Adsorption and Reaction (SILAR) technique was used to deposit the CuInS₂/In₂S₃ multilayer thin film structure at room temperature. The as-deposited film was annealed at 100, 200, 300, 400 and 500 °C for 30 min in nitrogen atmosphere and the annealing effect on structural, optical and photoelectrical properties of the film was investigated. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and optical absorption spectroscopy were used for structural and optical studies. Current–Voltage (I–V) measurements were performed in dark environment and under 15, 30 and 50 mW/cm² light intensity to investigate the photosensitivity of the structure. Also, the electrical resistivity of the film was determined in the temperature range of 300–470 K. It was found that annealing temperature drastically affects the structural, optical and photoelectrical properties of the CuInS₂/In₂S₃ films.     

Temperature dependence and the effect of hydrogen peroxide on ITO/poly-ZnO Schottky diodes fabricated by laser evaporation

Transparent and efficient poly-ZnO ultraviolet Schottky diodes grown at different temperatures with indium-tin-oxide (ITO) as the metallic contact layer were fabricated with hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) applied as a surface treatment at 70 °C for 20 min. Analysis via field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) demonstrated that the ZnO films underwent gradual oxidation and that H₂O₂ treatment resulted in an interfacial ZnO₂ layer that covered the ZnO surface. I–V measurements indicated that the ideality factor and the Schottky barrier height improved with increasing shunt resistance, and the trade-off between film quality and the degree of oxidation revealed that films grown at 400 °C exhibited the best diode characteristics.     

C-V analysis of rapidly thermal annealed SF6 plasma treated AlGaN/GaN heterostructures

We studied influence of rapid thermal annealing on electrical parameters of SF₆ plasma treated AlGaN/GaN heterostructures. The main emphasis by the evaluation was laid on C-V measurement and simulation, but also I-V and SIMS measurement were used. It was found that the diminished sheet carrier concentration of a two-dimensional electron gas after plasma treatment recovered significantly at the temperature of 500 °C. By using C-V measurement, it was possible to assess besides the changes of the two-dimensional electron gas concentration after annealing also the changes in the Schottky barrier heights and to find out the doping concentration in AlGaN barrier and GaN channel layer. The trend in Schottky barrier height changes after annealing was confirmed also by I-V measurement.     

Fabrication and electrical characterization of Au/p-Si/STO/Au contact

Au/STO/p-Si/Au structure is fabricated using pulsed laser deposition technique at room temperature. The current–voltage (I–V) characteristics of the device show rectification behavior. Various junction parameters such as ideality factor, barrier height and series resistance is determined using conventional forward bias I–V characteristics, Cheung method and Norde’s function. Au/STO/p-Si/Au structure shows non-ideal diode characteristics with the value of ideality factor of ∼5.1 and barrier height of ∼0.40 eV.     

Electrical characteristics of Pt/Au Schottky contacts to plasma-etched Al0.45Ga0.55N

The effects of inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etching on electrical properties of Pt/Au–Al_0.45Ga_0.55N Schottky contacts are investigated. There are two linear parts in the ln I–V curves of ICP-etched Schottky contacts at small forward currents at 198–298 K. Thermionic field emission (TFE) theory analysis shows that Schottky contact with ICP etching has much lower barrier height and higher tunnel transmission probability than that without ICP etching, which could be attributed to plasma damage introduced on the ICP-etched surface. The down linear part is probably connected to surface tunneling component originated from plasma-etched surface which joins Schottky area to Ohmic area.