A modified forward I-V plot for Schottky diodes with high series resistance

H. Norde

Citation: Journal of Applied Physics 50, 5052 (1979); doi: 10.1063/1.325607

View online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.325607
View Table of Contents: http://aip.scitation.org/toc/jap/50/7
Published by the American Institute of Physics

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A modified forward /- V plot for Schottky diodes with high
series resistance
H. Norde
Institute of Technology, University of Uppsala, Uppsala, Sweden
(Received 4 December 1978; accepted for publication 14 February 1979)

I t is shown that by plotting the function F (V) = V /2 - (k T / q ) In(I / AA * *T2) a reliable

value of the barrier height can be obtained even if there is a series resistance which
would hamper the evaluation of the standard InI -vs- V plot. A theoretical examination of
F(V) is followed by experimental plots for some common Schottky-barrier diodes.

PACS numbers: 73.30. +y

For an ideal Schottky-barrier diode the I-V characteris- FR (V) curve for large currents. Somewhere between these
tic is given by (neglecting minor effects) two extremes F (V) will have a minimum, which is the point
1= I,{exp(f3VD) - 1), of interest. In Fig. 1 are shown calculated F(V) and FR (V)
curves for different values of series resistance. The barrier
where VD is the voltage across the diode, height ¢{3 was arbitrarily chosen to be 0.79 eV.
I, = AA **P exp( -/#B)' Differentiating Eq. (3) with respect to voltage gives
/3 = q/kT.
dF = R (dI ) _ .!.
A well-established method of determining the barrier dV dV 2
height ¢ B is to make a In I vs. V plot. For voltages larger than Since
a few k T / q this plot will be a straight line whose extrapolated
intercept with the zero voltage axis gives I, . From this Is
value ¢ B can be calculated.
dI
dV
=~
dVD
[1 +R (~)]
dVD
-1,

Difficulties will arise, however, if the base material pre- and

sents a series resistance R to the diode. The straight-line part
of the plot will then be confined to the voltage interval
.85
kT/q < <V< <IR F(V)--

and if R is large, this interval will be too small to give a eV FR(V) - - -

reliable value of Is' Furthermore, since one is forced to use

an interval where V is small, recombination current I in the
diode may be a significant part of the total current, making
the extrapolated Is value still more unreliable.
The problem with a series resistance can in many cases
be avoided by using a plot of the function

F(V) = V I
2 -fj1 In ( -A-A-.-.-T-2 ) . (1)

For a diode with a series resistance R, the current is given by /

\
/
I=Is[exp(f3VD)-I] =I,{exp[,8(V-IR)] -IJ ..(2) /
\ / /
.70 ,/ _/
Ifwe assume that VD>kT /q, Eq. (2) and (I) will give \. ,/
'-R=10n/
/
F(V)=¢B+IR-1V.. (3) /
/
/
For the ideal case R = 0, F(V) is a straight line with slope /
/
\ /
= -! and the extrapolated intercept with the F(V) axis .65 \
/
/
/
gives the barrier height ¢ B . If, on the other hand there is only \ /
/ /
/
a resistance, we will get \ /
/
/ ,-
F(V)=FR(V)=~-~In( V ). / R=O
2 /3 RAA **T2 .60
/
100 200 300 400 mV
For large voltages this will approach a straight line with
slope = +!. Evidently the actual F(V) will be close to the FIG. I. Calculated plots of F(V) and FR (V) with ¢>8 = 0.79 eV,
ideal case for small current values and will approach the A = I cm', A" = 120 A ("C cm'Y 1, T = 20·C.

5052 J. Appl. Phys. 50(7), July 1979 0021-8979/79/075052-02$01.10 © 1979 American Institute of Physics 5052
 Vo kT
.85 ifJB = F(Vo) +- - - . (8)
F(V) 2 q
eV Experimental F (V) plots for different Schottky diodes are
shown in Fig. 2. The ifJ B values obtained from these plots are
in good agreement with the expected values .
.80
Once the Vo value is established, the assumption that
VD ).kT /q can be checked since at V = Vo we have
VD = Vo - kT /q.
It should be noted that a series resistance is not the only
75
cause of an F (V) plot with a minimum. If the back contact to
the diode is not an "Ohmic" contact, it can be a reverse-
biased diode when the main contact is forward biased_ Even
if the barrier of the back contact is low, it can seriously affect
.70 the current. Using SUbscripts I and 2 to denote the front and
the back contact, respectively, the 1- V characteristic of the
structure will be (now assuming there is no series resistance)
c • Isls2
~ ...... - . / ./ 1= [exp(8V) - I].
.65 Is2 + 1'1 exp(fJV)
Ifwe assume that both diodes have the same area A, this can
be expressed as
1= AA **p exp[ - fJ(ifJI + ifJ2)]
.6o'---'----,oLo-~-2-0'-0-~-3--'O'-0---'--4--'O-0---'-m-V---J exp( - fJifJ2) + exp( - fJifJI) exp(8V)
X [exp(8V) - 1].
FIG. 2. Experimental plots of F(V) for three different Schottky diodes: Assuming that V> > k T / q and using formula (I), the F (V)
(a) Au on CP6-etched n-Si; (b) PtSi on n-Si; (c) Pd,Si on n-Si. The minimum
point gives the following values of barrier height and series resistance: (a) function is
,pH =O.8IeV,R=4.9kf1(b),pB =O.84eV,R=S80f1;(C)¢8 =O.75eV, V 1
R = 107 f1. F(V) = ifJl - - + -tnt 1+ exp[fJ(V - ifJl + ifJ2)] J.
2 fJ
By differentiation it is easily seen that this function has a
minimum at
dI d
- = - [ Is exp(8VD )] =fJI, V = Vo = ifJ I - ifJ2'
dVD dVD
the derivative becomes and that

dF fJRI
(4)
F(Vo) = ifJl + ifJ2 + kT In2.
dV 1 +fJRI 2 2 q
Putting dF / d V = 0 will thus give the current 10 at the mini- The two barriers are then given by
mum point of F(V). From Eq. (4) we obtain
kT In2 , (9)
I - _1__ kT (5) q
0 - fJR - qR
Vo kT
The corresponding voltage Vo is, using Eq. (2), ifJ2 = F (Vo) - - - -ln2.
2 q
Vo = loR + VD(Io)
From the F (V) plot only it is difficult to tell whether the
minimum is caused by a series resistance or a non-Ohmic
1
=-+ (10)
In - - - -
2
(6) back contact. However, in most experimental situations one
fJ AA uT of these possibilities can be ruled out. If the front contact
barrier height is the only point of interest, it does not matter
and the minimum value of F(V) becomes what model is used since they both give essentially the same
barrier value, as can be seen comparing Eqs. (8) and (9).
(7) The author is grateful to Professor P.A. Tove and L.
Stolt for stimulating discussions and for providing some of
Using the measured values of 10 , Vo , and F(Vo) and Eqs. the experimental data.
(5)-(7), we finally obtain

R= kT,
'E.H. Rhoderick. Metal-Semiconductor Contacts (Clarendon, Oxford,
qlo 1978).

5053 J. Appl. Phys., Vol. 50, No.7, July 1979 Communications 5053