Quantum-Tunneling Metal-Insulator-Metal Diodes Made by Rapid Atmospheric Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition

A quantum-tunneling metal-insulator-metal (MIM) diode is fabricated by atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition (AP-CVD) for the first time. This scalable method is used to produce MIM diodes with high-quality, pinhole-free Al2O3 films more rapidly than by conventional vacuum-based approaches. This work demonstrates that clean room fabrication is not a prerequisite for quantum-enabled devices. In fact, the MIM diodes fabricated by AP-CVD show a lower effective barrier height (2.20 eV) at the electrode-insulator interface than those fabricated by conventional plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (2.80 eV), resulting in a lower turn on voltage of 1.4 V, lower zero-bias resistance, and better asymmetry of 107.