Role of Schottky Barrier Height Modulation on the Reverse Bias Current Behavior of MIS(p) Tunnel Diodes

Current and capacitance characteristics of Al/SiO<sub>2</sub>/Si(p) metal-insulator-semiconductor tunnel diode (MISTD) with oxide thickness in the range of about 2&#x2013;4 nm were fabricated and studied in detail in this work. We found that the saturation reverse bias current will i...

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Main Authors: Kung-Chu Chen, Kuan-Wun Lin, Jenn-Gwo Hwu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2021-01-01
Series:IEEE Access
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9641778/
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author Kung-Chu Chen
Kuan-Wun Lin
Jenn-Gwo Hwu
author_facet Kung-Chu Chen
Kuan-Wun Lin
Jenn-Gwo Hwu
author_sort Kung-Chu Chen
collection DOAJ
description Current and capacitance characteristics of Al/SiO<sub>2</sub>/Si(p) metal-insulator-semiconductor tunnel diode (MISTD) with oxide thickness in the range of about 2&#x2013;4 nm were fabricated and studied in detail in this work. We found that the saturation reverse bias current will increase with oxide thickness in this range of oxide thickness. This non-intuitive phenomenon is caused by different levels of Schottky barrier height modulation (SBHM), which leads to the injection of the majority from metal. The majority current of Al/SiO<sub>2</sub>/Si(p) MISTD is usually neglected because of the blocking of the oxide layer and the Schottky barrier. The mechanism and numerical analysis of SBHM are discussed in this work. SBHM is significant when the oxide is thin enough for the majority to tunnel from metal to semiconductor and thick enough to hold a part of the minority inversion layer. In this specific oxide thickness range, increasing oxide thickness will increase the ability to hold the inversion layer, thus leading to higher oxide voltage (V<sub>ox</sub>) and stronger SBHM. As a result, we find that stronger SBHM lets more majority have enough energy to inject from metal to semiconductor and cause higher reverse saturation current in MISTD with thicker oxide. With the numerical analysis in our work, we also predict this non-intuitive phenomenon will start to turn around when oxide thickness is thicker than about 33&#x00C5;. This phenomenon indicated that majority current is an un-neglectable component when the oxide is thick enough to hold the inversion layer partially. The analysis in this work is also helpful to complete the missing part of the theory describing the current behavior of MISTD.
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spelling doaj.art-e9f2fd4e5c3742bab5dd36b29d3e36722022-12-21T19:23:03ZengIEEEIEEE Access2169-35362021-01-01916392916393710.1109/ACCESS.2021.31335759641778Role of Schottky Barrier Height Modulation on the Reverse Bias Current Behavior of MIS(p) Tunnel DiodesKung-Chu Chen0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0816-9399Kuan-Wun Lin1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2105-7407Jenn-Gwo Hwu2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9688-0812Graduate Institute of Electronics Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, TaiwanGraduate Institute of Electronics Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, TaiwanGraduate Institute of Electronics Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, TaiwanCurrent and capacitance characteristics of Al/SiO<sub>2</sub>/Si(p) metal-insulator-semiconductor tunnel diode (MISTD) with oxide thickness in the range of about 2&#x2013;4 nm were fabricated and studied in detail in this work. We found that the saturation reverse bias current will increase with oxide thickness in this range of oxide thickness. This non-intuitive phenomenon is caused by different levels of Schottky barrier height modulation (SBHM), which leads to the injection of the majority from metal. The majority current of Al/SiO<sub>2</sub>/Si(p) MISTD is usually neglected because of the blocking of the oxide layer and the Schottky barrier. The mechanism and numerical analysis of SBHM are discussed in this work. SBHM is significant when the oxide is thin enough for the majority to tunnel from metal to semiconductor and thick enough to hold a part of the minority inversion layer. In this specific oxide thickness range, increasing oxide thickness will increase the ability to hold the inversion layer, thus leading to higher oxide voltage (V<sub>ox</sub>) and stronger SBHM. As a result, we find that stronger SBHM lets more majority have enough energy to inject from metal to semiconductor and cause higher reverse saturation current in MISTD with thicker oxide. With the numerical analysis in our work, we also predict this non-intuitive phenomenon will start to turn around when oxide thickness is thicker than about 33&#x00C5;. This phenomenon indicated that majority current is an un-neglectable component when the oxide is thick enough to hold the inversion layer partially. The analysis in this work is also helpful to complete the missing part of the theory describing the current behavior of MISTD.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9641778/Metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS)Schottky diodeSchottky barrier heightultra-thin oxide
spellingShingle Kung-Chu Chen
Kuan-Wun Lin
Jenn-Gwo Hwu
Role of Schottky Barrier Height Modulation on the Reverse Bias Current Behavior of MIS(p) Tunnel Diodes
IEEE Access
Metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS)
Schottky diode
Schottky barrier height
ultra-thin oxide
title Role of Schottky Barrier Height Modulation on the Reverse Bias Current Behavior of MIS(p) Tunnel Diodes
title_full Role of Schottky Barrier Height Modulation on the Reverse Bias Current Behavior of MIS(p) Tunnel Diodes
title_fullStr Role of Schottky Barrier Height Modulation on the Reverse Bias Current Behavior of MIS(p) Tunnel Diodes
title_full_unstemmed Role of Schottky Barrier Height Modulation on the Reverse Bias Current Behavior of MIS(p) Tunnel Diodes
title_short Role of Schottky Barrier Height Modulation on the Reverse Bias Current Behavior of MIS(p) Tunnel Diodes
title_sort role of schottky barrier height modulation on the reverse bias current behavior of mis p tunnel diodes
topic Metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS)
Schottky diode
Schottky barrier height
ultra-thin oxide
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9641778/
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