Back-to-back connected asymmetric Schottky diodes with series resistance as a single diode

We have studied current-voltage characteristics of two back-to-back connected Schottky diodes. In many semiconductor devices, we need to prepare one Schottky contact and the second contact should be ohmic. We show that even in the case when the second contact is also of Schottky type but with different barrier height, current-voltage characteristic remains very similar as that of single Schottky diode. The existence of the second Schottky diode with lower-barrier height may not be detectable by inspecting I-V curves of such structure. The analysis and Schottky diode parameter extraction also may not be able to disclose existence of two Schottky contacts in the studied structure. The structure behaves as it would be one single Schottky contact. This knowledge may be used in technology where in many cases the ohmic contact may be substituted by another Schottky contact with lower-barrier height. (C) 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim