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Temperature dependence of the reverse current in Schottky barrier diodes

  • Physics of Semiconductor Devices
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Abstract

The temperature dependences of the current I in reverse-biased Al/SiO2/n-Si, Al/SiO2/n-GaAs and Al/n-GaAs (with the native oxide) structures are measured. It is established that these dependences all have the property that the thermal activation energy decreases with increasing applied voltage and that at higher voltages the plots of ln I versus 1/T deviate from straight lines. The results can be explained on the basis of the fact that the current through the barrier is due to electron tunneling from surface states into the conduction band of the semiconductor. The field intensity in the Schottky barrier and the density of surface electron states in the interfacial layer of the semiconductor are estimated by comparing the experimental results with a tunneling theory that takes into account the effect of the semiconductor lattice phonons on the tunneling probability.

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Fiz. Tekh. Poluprovodn. 32, 882–885 (July 1998)

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Pipinis, P.A., Rimeika, A.K. & Lapeika, V.A. Temperature dependence of the reverse current in Schottky barrier diodes. Semiconductors 32, 785–788 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1134/1.1187506

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/1.1187506

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