The Effect of Interface States and Series Resistance on Current-Voltage Characteristics in (MIS) Schottky Diodes

Abstract

The current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) Al/Si 3 N 4 /p-Si Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) were measured at room temperature. Al/Si 3 N 4 /p-Si structure has been fabricated by the electrochemical anodization method. The surface of p-type Si was passivated by nitridation process. Effects series resistance R s , interfacial layer and interface states density (N ss) on I-V characteristics were investigated. Al/Si 3 N 4 /p-Si (MIS) Schottky barrier diodes showed that rectifying behavior with an ideality factor value of 6.17 and barrier height value of 0.714 eV obeys a metal-interfacial layer-semiconductor (MIS) structure rather than an ideal Schottky diode due to the existence of Si 3 N 4 at the Al/p-Si interfacial layer. The values of series resistance (R s) were determined using Cheung's method. In addition, interface states density (N ss) as a function of (E ss-E v) was extracted from the bias I-V measurements with and without taking into account the series resistance. The I-V characteristics confirmed that the distribution of N ss , R s and interfacial insulator layer are important parameters that influence the electrical characteristics of MIS Schottky diodes.