The barriers for electron and hole injection from Si substrate into the RF magnetron-deposited In2O3 : Er films

Abstract

The In2O3 : Er films were deposited on Si substrates by the RF magnetron sputtering technique. For the Si substrates of both n- and p-type the current through the MOS-structure (Si/In2O3 : Er/In-contact) was described by the thermionic emission of the main currents over the barrier, with the correction of the applied voltage into the partial voltage drop in silicon. By the temperature dependence measurements of the forward currents at small under-barrier biases the barriers for the current injection from Si into the films were found equal to the 0.14 eV and 0.3 eV for the electrons and holes accordingly. The obtained small barrier for the holes is described by the presence of the defect state density. It tails from the valence band maximum into the In2O3 : Er band gap and provides there the conduction channel for holes. The defect state density in the In2O3 : Er band gap is proved by the PL data in the respective energy range 1.55–3 eV. The band analysis for the hetero-structure Si/In2O3 : Er is performed. It gives the energy gap between the electrons in the In2O3 : Er conduction band and the holes in the band gap channel equal to the 1.56 eV.