Electrical characterization of Al/p-Si Schottky diodes with interfacial SiO2 oxide layer fabricated at 500 oC

Abstract

To grow silicon dioxide (SiO₂) on the surface of p-Si, the Si crystal was placed in a resistance-heated oven and exposed to 500°C for 3 hours with a flow rate of 2 l/min in dry oxygen. Thus, the SiO₂/p-Si structure was formed.  From the current-voltage (I–V) characteristics of the Al/SiO₂/p-Si/Al Schottky diode, barrier height, ideality factor, interface density of states and series resistance parameters are reported. To investigate the I-V properties, the thermionic emission (TE) theory is employed. The I-V characteristics of the Al/SiO₂/p-Si/Al Schottky diode were investigated in the voltage range of -2V – +2 V. A good rectification factor was obtained for this range. The ideality factor, barrier height, saturation current, and series resistance are determined to be 2.41, 0.795 eV, 7.85x10^-9 A, and 6.38 kΩ, respectively. It was discovered that the interfacial state density values were roughly 10¹³ eV^-1 cm^-2. The interfacial state density was 5.78x10¹³ eV^-1 cm^-2 in the -0.777 energy range and 8.76x10¹³ eV^-1 cm^-2 in the -0.520 energy range were calculated.