A novel surface area to volume ratio estimation technique for nanohemisphere contacted Schottky barrier structures

Abstract

Nanostructured metal-semiconductor interfaces, also known as Schottky barriers, exhibit remarkable electronic properties. The surface morphology of nanostructure contacted Schottky barriers has a significant effect on its current-voltage (I-V) characteristics, which is crucial for high-performance device applications. In this work, we present a surface area to volume ratio (SVR) estimation technique for nanohemisphere Schottky interfaces. By applying Gauss’s law, i.e. without deviating from first principle, we expand the formulation of thermionic emission theory to incorporate surface area and volume. The proposed technique has been assessed by comparison against AFM measured surface characteristics of fabricated Pt/ZnO nanohemisphere structures. Results show that the proposed technique has a high accuracy to within several percent from surface measurements. This technique provides access to SVR while eliminating the need for direct surface characterization, which can be an instrumental tool for the design and analysis of surface-sensitive devices, such as sensors.