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Analysis of microstructure, chemical state and electrical features of Ti/WO3/p-InP heterojunction with a tungsten oxide insulating layer

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Abstract

This paper examined the fabrication, structural, chemical and electrical features of Ti/WO3/p-InP heterojunction (HJ). AFM, FESEM and XPS analyses were accomplished to investigate the structural and chemical possessions of the tungsten oxide. The electrical and current transport properties of Ti/p-InP Schottky diode (SD) and HJ were investigated by using the current–voltage (I–V) technique. The HJ exhibits lesser reverse leakage current and enhanced barrier height than the SD. The barrier height (Φb) and ideality factor (n) values of SD and HJ are found to be 0.73 eV, 2.27 and 0.83 eV, 1.72, respectively. The inclusion of the WO3 layer between Ti and p-InP considerably improved the Φb of SD. The Φb and n were determined using multiple methods including I–V, Cheung’s function and Ψs-V plot, the extracted Φb and n values were found to be consistent with one another, indicating the stability and validity of the results. Results revealed that the HJ shows improved Φb and n values compared to the SD. The density of states (NSS) of the HJ was found to be lower than the SD, specifying the effectiveness of the WO3 insulating layer in reducing NSS. Both SD and HJ exhibited Poole–Frenkel emission as the prevailing mechanism in the reverse current. These findings suggest that the WO3 insulating materials have the potential to develop HJ devices.

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Data of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Materials/Parts Technology Development Program (20022480) funded by the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy (MOTIE, Korea). S. Ashajyothi is also highly grateful to the University Grant Commission (UGC), New Delhi for providing financial assistance in the form of CSIR-UGC NET (RGF) to purse a PhD programme.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati, 517 502, India

    S. Ashajyothi & V. Rajagopal Reddy

  2. School of Semiconductor and Chemical Engineering, Semiconductor Physics Research Center, (SPRC), Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju, 561-756, Republic of Korea

    Chel-Jong Choi

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  1. S. Ashajyothi
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Ashajyothi: investigation, methodology, writing-original draft preparation, Rajagopal Reddy: conceptualization, data curation, formal analysis, validation. Chel-Jong Choi: software, resource, writing-reviewing and editing.

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Correspondence to V. Rajagopal Reddy or Chel-Jong Choi.

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Ashajyothi, S., Reddy, V.R. & Choi, CJ. Analysis of microstructure, chemical state and electrical features of Ti/WO3/p-InP heterojunction with a tungsten oxide insulating layer. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 34, 1482 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-023-10893-x

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