CURRENT–VOLTAGE CHARACTERISTICS OF THERMALLY ANNEALED Ni/n-GaAs SCHOTTKY CONTACTS

Abstract

The Schottky barrier type Ni/[Formula: see text]-GaAs contacts fabricated by us were thermally annealed at 600[Formula: see text]C and 700[Formula: see text]C for 1[Formula: see text]min. The apparent barrier height [Formula: see text] and ideality factor of the diodes were calculated from the forward bias current–voltage characteristic in 60–320[Formula: see text]K range. The [Formula: see text] values for the nonannealed and 600[Formula: see text]C and 700[Formula: see text]C annealed diodes were obtained as 0.80, 0.81 and 0.67[Formula: see text]eV at 300[Formula: see text]K, respectively. Thus, it has been concluded that the reduced barrier due to the thermal annealing at 700[Formula: see text]C promises some device applications. The current preferentially flows through the lowest barrier height (BH) with the temperature due to the BH inhomogeneities. Therefore, it was seen that the [Formula: see text] versus [Formula: see text] plots for the nonannealed and annealed diodes showed the linear behavior according to Gaussian distributions.