Semiconductor Device

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Metal Semiconductor Junctions
Module 3
Metal Semiconductor Junction

1. Idealized Metal-Semiconductor junctions

2. Physics of Schottky and Ohmic contacts
3. Effect of surface states on Metal-Semi Contacts,
4. Devices based on metal-semiconductor contacts

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Metal Semiconductor Junction

Fermi level alignment: Charge Depletion

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Source: Streetman and Banerjee, Solid State Electronic Devices
Metal Semiconductor Junction

Fermi level alignment: Charge Depletion

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Source: Streetman and Banerjee, Solid State Electronic Devices
Metal Semiconductor Junction

Fermi level alignment: Charge Induce

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Source: Streetman and Banerjee, Solid State Electronic Devices
Metal Semiconductor Junction

Fermi level alignment: Charge Induce

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Source: Streetman and Banerjee, Solid State Electronic Devices
Metal Semiconductor Junction

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Source: Streetman and Banerjee, Solid State Electronic Devices
Metal Semiconductor Junction

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Metal Semiconductor Junction

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Metal Semiconductor Junction

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Metal Semiconductor Junction

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Metal Semiconductor Junction

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Metal Semiconductor Junction

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Metal Semiconductor Junction

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Metal Semiconductor Junction

a metal-semiconductor contact having a large barrier height (i.e., ϕBn or ϕBp >> kT) and a low doping
concentration that is less than the density of states in the conduction band or valence band.

current components are proportional to the density of electrons at theboundary.

Metal Semiconductor Junction

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Metal Semiconductor Junction

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Metal Semiconductor Junction

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Metal Semiconductor Junction

An Ohmic contact is defined as a metal-semiconductor contact that has a negligible contact resistance relative
to the bulk or series resistance of the semiconductor.

A satisfactory Ohmic contact should not significantly degrade device performance and can pass the
required current with a voltage drop that is small compared with the drop across the active region of the
device.

metal-semiconductor contact with a low barrier height should be used to obtain a small RC

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Metal Semiconductor Junction

W≈

The specific contact resistance for high doping is

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Metal Semiconductor Junction
Fermi Level Pinning

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Source: Streetman and Banerjee, Solid State Electronic Devices
 Fermi Level Pinning

Vacuum level, E0 • A high density of

energy states in the
cSi = 4.05 eV
bandgap at the metal-
qyM
semiconductor interface
pins Ef to a narrow
qfBn Ec
range and fBn is
+ -
Ef typically 0.4 to 0.9 V

Ev

Modern Semiconductor Devices for Integrated Circuits (C. Hu) Slide 4-22
Metal Semiconductor Junction

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Source: Neaman
Metal Semiconductor Junction

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 4.19 Applications of Schottly Diodes
I I Schottky diode

ffBB PN junction
PN junction
diode

V
V

• I0 of a Schottky diode is 103 to 108 times larger than a PN

junction diode, depending on fB . A larger I0 means a smaller
forward drop V.
• A Schottky diode is the preferred rectifier in low voltage,
high current applications.
Modern Semiconductor Devices for Integrated Circuits (C. Hu) Slide 4-25
 Switching Power Supply

PN Junction Schottky
rectifier Transformer rectifier
100kHz
110V/220V Hi-voltage Hi-voltage Lo-voltage 50A
DC MOSFET AC AC 1V DC
AC inverter
utility
power

feedback to modulate the pulse width to keep Vout = 1V

Modern Semiconductor Devices for Integrated Circuits (C. Hu) Slide 4-26
Metal Semiconductor Junction

THANK YOU

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Metal Semiconductor Junction

ADDITIONAL SLIDES

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 fBn Increases with Increasing Metal Work Function

Vacuum level, E0

cSi = 4.05 eV y M : Work Function

qyM of metal

qfBn c Si : Electron Affinity of Si

Ec

Ef

Theoretically,
Ev fBn= yM – cSi

Semiconductor Devices for Integrated Circuits (C. Hu) Slide 4-29

 4.16 Schottky Barriers
Energy Band Diagram of Schottky Contact

Depletion
Metal layer Neutral region

qfBn
Ec
Ef
N-Si • Schottky barrier height, fB ,
Ev is a function of the metal
Ec
material.

P-Si • fB is the most important

Ef
parameter. The sum of qfBn
qfBp Ev
and qfBp is equal to Eg .

Modern Semiconductor Devices for Integrated Circuits (C. Hu) Slide 4-30
 Schottky Contacts of Metal Silicide on Si

Silicide: A silicon and metal compound. It is conductive

similar to a metal.

Silicide-Si interfaces are more stable than metal-silicon

interfaces. After metal is deposited on Si, an annealing step is
applied to form a silicide-Si contact. The term metal-silicon
contact includes and almost always means silicide-Si contacts.

fBn
fBp

Modern Semiconductor Devices for Integrated Circuits (C. Hu) Slide 4-31
 Using C-V Data to Determine fB

qfBn qfbi
Ec
Ef

Ev

qfBn q(fbi + V)

qV Ec
Ef
Question:
How should we plot the CV
Ev data to extract fbi?

Modern Semiconductor Devices for Integrated Circuits (C. Hu) Slide 4-32
 Using CV Data to Determine fB

1/C2

qfBn qfbi
V Ec
-fbi Ef

Once fbi is known, fB can

E
be determined using v

Modern Semiconductor Devices for Integrated Circuits (C. Hu) Slide 4-33
 4.17 Thermionic Emission Theory
vthx
-
q( fB - V) Ec
q fB
N-type Efm qV Efn
V Metal Silicon

Ev

Modern Semiconductor Devices for Integrated Circuits (C. Hu) Slide 4-34
4.20   Quantum Mechanical Tunneling

Tunneling probability:

Modern Semiconductor Devices for Integrated Circuits (C. Hu) Slide 4-35
 Schottky barrier heights for electrons and holes

fBn + fBp  Eg

fBn increases with increasing metal work function

Modern Semiconductor Devices for Integrated Circuits (C. Hu) Slide 4-36
 Schottky barrier heights for electrons and holes

fBn + fBp  Eg

fBn increases with increasing metal work function

Modern Semiconductor Devices for Integrated Circuits (C. Hu) Slide 4-37
Metal-Semiconductor Junction

Two kinds of metal-semiconductor contacts:

• Rectifying Schottky diodes: metal on lightly

doped silicon

•Low-resistance ohmic contacts: metal on

heavily doped silicon

Modern Semiconductor Devices for Integrated Circuits (C. Slide 4-38

Hu)