Abstract
When a metal makes intimate contact with a semiconductor material, a Schottky barrier may be created. The Schottky contact has many important applications in the integrated circuit (IC) electronics field. The parameters of such contacts can be determined from their current-voltage (I–V) characteristics. The literature contains many proposals for extracting the contact parameters using graphical methods. However, such methods are generally applicable only to contacts with a forward bias, whereas many Schottky contacts actually operate under a reverse bias. Accordingly, the present study proposed a generalized reverse current-voltage (I–V) plot which enables the series resistance, barrier height, and ideality factor of a reverse biased Schottky contact to be extracted from a single set of I–V measurements. A theoretical derivation of the proposed approach was presented and a series of validation tests were then performed. The results show that the proposed method is capable of extracting reliable estimates of the contact parameters even in the presence of experimental noise.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
S.M. Sze, D.J. Coleman Jr., and A. Loya, Current transport in metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) structures, Solid State Electron., 14(1971), p.1209.
S. Liang, H. Sheng, Y. Liu, et al., ZnO Schottky ultraviolet photodetectors, J. Cryst. Growth, 225(2001), p.110.
L.C. Chen, M.S. Fu, and I.L. Huang, Metal-semiconductor-metal AlN mid-ultraviolet photodetectors grown by magnetron sputtering deposition, Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. Part 1, 43(2004), p.3353.
S.K. Cheung and N.W. Cheung, Extraction of Schottky diode parameters form forward current-voltage characteristics, Appl. Phys. Lett., 49(1986), p.85.
D.A. Neamen, Semiconductor Physics and Devices: Basic Principles, McGraw-Hill Companies Inc., Beijing, 2003, p.339.
H. Norde, A modified forward I–V plot for Schottky diodes with high series resistance, J. Appl. Phys., 50(1979), p.5052.
Ş. Aydoğan and A. Türüt, Influence of 12 MeV electron irradiation on the electrical and photovoltaic properties of Schottky type solar cell based on Carmine, Radiat. Phys. Chem., 80(2011), p.869.
K. Sato and Y. Yasumura, Study of forward I–V plot for Schottky diodes with high series resistance, J. Appl. Phys., 58(1985), p.3655.
A.B. McLean, Limitations to the Norde I–V plot, Semicond. Sci. Technol., 1(1986), p.177.
K.E. Bohlin, Generalized Norde plot including determination of the ideality factor, J. Appl. Phys., 60(1986), No.3, p.1223.
G.S. Chilana and R.S. Gupta, A modified Norde function for the measurement of the series resistance and the voltage-dependent barrier height of triangular barrier diodes, J. Appl. Phys., 65(1989), No.7, p.2859.
M. Lyakas, M. Eizenberg, and R. Zaharia, Analysis of nonideal Schottky and p-n junction diodes—Extraction of parameters form I–V plot, J. Appl. Phys., 78(1995), p.5481.
A.B. McLean, I.M. Dharmadasa, and R.H. Williams, Schottky-barrier height determination in the presence of interfacial disorder, Semicond. Sci. Technol., 1(1986), p.137.
E.K. Evangelou, L. Papadimitriou, C.A. Dimitriades, et al., Extraction of Schottky diode (and p-n junction) parameters from I–V characteristics, Solid State Electron., 36(1993), p.1633.
E.H. Rhoderick and R.H. Williams, Metal-semiconductor Contacts, Oxford University Press, New York, 1988.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This work was financially supported by the Fund under Grant No.NSC95-2516-S-020-003.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hsiung, CM., Chou, CS. & Chiang, TL. A generalized Norde plot for reverse biased Schottky contacts. Int J Miner Metall Mater 19, 54–58 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12613-012-0514-5
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12613-012-0514-5