The Double Gaussian Distribution of Inhomogeneous Barrier Heights in Au/NAMA/n-Si Schottky Diodes

In this work, we report the results of temperature dependent barrier properties of Au/NAMA/n-Si Schottky diode in the low temperature range of 80-330 K. The analysis results of according to thermionic emission theory showed that the barrier height decreases, and the ideality factor increases towards low temperatures, depend on the barrier height inhomogeneities. The obtained results show the presence of a double Gaussian distributions with standard deviations (sigma(0)) of 0.073 V and 0.18 V and mean barrier height (Phi(b0)) values of 0.595 and 1.427 eV in the change of 80-140 K and 160-330 K, respectively. Moreover, evaluation of the modified Richardson curve, the values of Richardson constant (A*) of 321.805 and 110.935 A K-2 cm(-2), and mean barrier height of 0.606 and 1.422 eV were found for the low-and high-temperature regions, respectively. The A* value of 110.935 A K-2 cm(-2) is close to the theoretical value of 112 A K-2 cm(-2) for n-Si. These results proved that there is barrier inhomogeneity. (c) 2023 The Electrochemical Society (ECS). Published on behalf of ECS by IOP Publishing Limited.

Automated summary

In this study, the temperature dependent barrier properties of Au/NAMA/n-Si Schottky diode in the low temperature range of 80-330 K were investigated. The analysis based on thermionic emission theory revealed that the barrier height decreases and the ideality factor increases with decreasing temperature, which can be attributed to barrier height inhomogeneities. The results indicated the presence of double Gaussian distributions and the mean barrier height values varied with temperature. Evaluation of the modified Richardson curve provided further insights into the barrier properties.