Vertical CdTe:PVP/p-Si-Based Temperature Sensor by Using Aluminum Anode Schottky Contact

vertical Schottky barrier diode (SBD)-based temperature sensors with the drive modes are a signifi-cant issue with more advantageous than the on-chip sensor. The sensitivity (S) and the current conduction mechanisms (CCMs) of the vertical cadmium telluride (CdTe):polyvinyl pyrolidone (PVP)/p-Si SBD were studied experimentally over the range of 80-340 K and compared with that of the lateral and vertical sensors. It is shown that the low and moderated volt-ages of the CdTe:PVP/p-Si corresponding two linear regions of the current-voltage (I-V) outputs are around 0.1-0.3 and 0.4-0.65 V, respectively. The variation of Schottky barrier height (BH; Phi(Bo)) and ideality factor (n) with temperature was obtained according to two linear regions. Energy dispersion of the interface traps (N-ss) with changing temperature is additionally analyzed quantitatively. It is concluded that the thermionic-emission (TE) theory with double-Gaussian distribution (GD) is the dominant mechanism resulting the I-V characteristics of the vertical CdTe:PVP/p-Si SBD in this study. Moreover, in the constant current, the S values at the drive current of 10, 20, and 50 mu A were resulting in a range of -1.6 to -1.8 mV/K.

Automated summary

This study experimentally investigated the sensitivity and current conduction mechanisms of vertical CdTe:PVP/p-Si SBD temperature sensors, revealing different voltage ranges in linear regions and analyzing the temperature-dependent variations of Schottky barrier height and ideality factor. The dominant mechanism was identified as the thermionic emission theory with double-Gaussian distribution, resulting in sensitivity values ranging from -1.6 to -1.8 mV/K at constant current.