Fabrication and electrical characteristics of Si nanocrystal/ c - Si heterojunctions

• Published in: Applied physics letters Vol. 91; no. 12; pp. 123510 - 123510-3
• Main Authors: Song, Dengyuan, Cho, Eun-Chel, Conibeer, Gavin, Huang, Yidan, Green, Martin A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Institute of Physics 17-09-2007
• ISSN: 0003-6951; 1077-3118
• DOI: 10.1063/1.2787883

Heterojunctions (HJs) were fabricated from
p
-type Si nanocrystals (Si NCs) embedded in a SiC matrix on an
n
-type crystalline Si substrate. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that Si NCs are clearly established, with sizes in the range of
3
-
5
nm
. The HJ diodes showed a good rectification ratio of
1.0
×
10
4
at
±
1.0
V
at
298
K
. The ideality factor, junction built-in potential, and open-circuit voltage are
∼
1.24
,
0.72
V
, and
0.48
V
, respectively. Measurement of temperature-dependent
I
-
V
curves in forward conduction suggests that, in the medium voltage range, junction interface recombination can be described as the dominant current transport mechanism.