Crystals (Mar 2021)

A Stable and Efficient Pt/n-Type Ge Schottky Contact That Uses Low-Cost Carbon Paste Interlayers

  • Pei-Te Lin,
  • Jia-Wei Chang,
  • Syuan-Ruei Chang,
  • Zhong-Kai Li,
  • Wei-Zhi Chen,
  • Jui-Hsuan Huang,
  • Yu-Zhen Ji,
  • Wen-Jeng Hsueh,
  • Chun-Ying Huang

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst11030259
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 3
p. 259

Abstract

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Ge-based Schottky diodes find applications in high-speed devices. However, Fermi-level pinning is a major issue for the development of Ge-based diodes. This study fabricates a Pt/carbon paste (CP)/Ge Schottky diode using low-cost CP as an interlayer. The Schottky barrier height (ΦB) is 0.65 eV for Pt/CP/n-Ge, which is a higher value than the value of 0.57 eV for conventional Pt/n-Ge. This demonstrates that the CP interlayer has a significant effect. The relevant junction mechanisms are illustrated using feasible energy level band diagrams. This strategy results in greater stability and enables a device to operate for more than 500 h under ambient conditions. This method realizes a highly stable Schottky contact for n-type Ge, which is an essential element of Ge-based high-speed electronics.

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