T. V. Blank

Mechanisms of current flow in metal-semiconductor ohmic contacts

Published data on the properties of metal-semiconductor ohmic contacts and mechanisms of current flow in these contacts (thermionic emission, field emission, thermal-field emission, and also current flow through metal shunts) are reviewed. Theoretical dependences of the resistance of an ohmic contact on temperature and the charge-carrier concentration in a semiconductor were compared with experimental data on ohmic contacts to II–VI semiconductors (ZnSe, ZnO), III–V semiconductors (GaN, AlN, InN, GaAs, GaP, InP), Group IV semiconductors (SiC, diamond), and alloys of these semiconductors. In ohmic contacts based on lightly doped semiconductors, the main mechanism of current flow is thermionic emission with the metal-semiconductor potential barrier height equal to 0.1–0.2 eV. In ohmic contacts based on heavily doped semiconductors, the current flow is effected owing to the field emission, while the metal-semiconductor potential barrier height is equal to 0.3–0.5 eV. In alloyed In contacts to GaP and GaN, a mechanism of current flow that is not characteristic of Schottky diodes (current flow through metal shunts formed by deposition of metal atoms onto dislocations or other imperfections in semiconductors) is observed.

Semiconductor photoelectric converters for the ultraviolet region of the spectrum

Recently, ultraviolet photoelectronics emerged in response to the needs of medicine, biology, military equipment, and the problem of the hole in the ozone layer. A specific feature of this field of photoelectronics is the need to detect weak (albeit appreciably affecting vital human functions) signals against a background of intense radiation in the visible and infrared regions of the spectrum. Ultraviolet electronics relies on Si-based p-n structures and GaP-based Schottky barriers, p-n structures and Schottky barriers based on GaN and AlGaN (“solar-blind,” i.e., solar-radiation-insensitive devices), SiC structures with potential barriers (high-temperature devices), and ZnO-and ZnS-based photoresistors and Schottky diodes. In this review, the parameters of starting wide-gap semiconductors are given, physical foundations for photoelectric conversion and the principles of formation of ohmic contacts are described, characteristics of corresponding devices are given, and the envisaged lines of further studies are outlined.

Temperature dependence of the photoelectric conversion quantum efficiency of 4H–SiC Schottky UV photodetectors

Ultraviolet Schottky photodetectors based on n-4H–SiC (Nd − Na = 4 × 1015 cm−3) epitaxial layers of high purity have been fabricated. Their spectral sensitivity range is 3.2–5.3 eV peaking at 4.9 eV (quantum efficiency is about ~0.3 electron/photon), which is close to the bactericidal ultraviolet radiation spectrum. The temperature dependence of the quantum efficiency of 4H–SiC Schottky structure has been investigated to determine the temperature stability and the mechanism of the photoelectric conversion process. At low temperatures (78–175 K) the quantum efficiency increases with increasing temperature for all photon energy values and then tends to saturate. We suppose that some imperfections in the space-charge region act as traps that capture both photoelectrons and photoholes. After some time the trapped electron–hole pairs recombine due to the tunnelling effect. At high temperatures (more than 300 K), the second enhancement region of the quantum efficiency is observed in the photon energy range of 3.2–4.5 eV. It is connected with a phonon contribution to indirect optical transitions between the valence band and the M-point of the conduction band. When the photon energy is close to a direct optical transition threshold this enhancement region disappears. This threshold is estimated to be 4.9 eV. At photon energies more than 5 eV a drastic fall of the quantum efficiency has been observed throughout the temperature interval. We propose that in this case the photoelectrons and photoholes are bound to form hot excitons in the space-charge region due to the Brillouin zone singularity, and do not contribute to the following photoelectroconversion process.

Peculiarities in the mechanism of current flow through an ohmic contact to gallium phosphide

The temperature dependence of the electric resistance of the In-GaP ohmic contact has been studied in the range from 77 to 420 K. The resistance was measured in GaP plates of various thickness with two In ohmic contacts. The measured ohmic contact resistance increases with temperature in the interval from 230–420 K. It is suggested that the In-GaP ohmic contact is formed by metallic shunts appearing upon deposition of In atoms on dislocations and other imperfections present (with a density evaluated at (4.5–8)×107 cm−2) in the subsurface region of the semiconductor.

The mechanism of current flow in an alloyed In-GaN ohmic contact

The resistance of alloyed In-GaN ohmic contact is studied experimentally. In the temperature range 180–320 K, the resistance per unit area increases with temperature, which is typical of metallic conduction and disagrees with current flow mechanisms associated with thermionic, field-effect, or thermal field emission. It is assumed that In-GaN ohmic contact is formed by conducting shunts arising due to precipitation of In atoms on dislocations. As determined from the temperature dependence of the contact resistance, the number of shunts per unit contact area is ∼(107–108) cm−2, which is close to the dislocation density of 108 cm−2 measured in the initial material.

Dependence of the mechanism of current flow in the in-n-GaN alloyed ohmic contact on the majority carrier concentration

Based on the study of the temperature dependence of resistance of the In-n-GaN alloyed ohmic contacts, it is found that the mechanism of current flow in them substantially depends on the concentration N of uncompensated donors in GaN. At N = 5 × 1016 − 1 × 1018 cm−3, current mainly flows along the metallic shunts, and at N ⩾ 8 × 1018 cm−3 it flows by tunneling.

Flow of the current along metallic shunts in ohmic contacts to wide-gap III–V semiconductors

It is established experimentally that the contact metal—wide-gap semiconductor (GaAs, GaP, GaN) with the Schottky barrier transforms into the ohmic contact either in the process of continuous heating or in the process of holding at an elevated temperature before the formation of any recrystallized layers. In this case, resistance of the contact reduced to the unit area increases as the temperature increases for semiconductors with a high dislocation density (GaP, GaN). It is assumed that in such contacts, the current flows along the metallic shunts, which shorten the layer of space charge and are formed by metal atoms diffused along the dislocation lines or other imperfections of the semiconductor. In semiconductors with a low dislocation density (GaAs), resistance of the ohmic contact per unit area decreases with increasing the temperature as it was expected for the thermionic mechanism of current flowing.

Mechanism of the current flow in Pd-(heavily doped p-AlxGa1−xN) ohmic contact

The physical mechanism of the current flow in Pd-(heavily doped p-AlxGa1−xN) ohmic contact is studied. Chloride-hydride epitaxy was used to grow the p-Al0.06Ga0.94N solid solution with uncompensated acceptor concentration Na–Nd ranging from 3×1018 up to 1019 cm−3. Thermal vacuum deposition and subsequent thermal treatment were used to form an ohmic Pd contact. It is shown that, after the thermal treatment, the Pd-p-Al0.06Ga0.94N barrier contact with a potential barrier height of about 2.3 V becomes ohmic and the barrier height decreases to approximately 0.05 V. For uncompensated acceptor concentration Na–Nd=3×1018 cm−3, thermionic emission is found to be the main mechanism of the current through the Pd-p-Al0.06Ga0.94N ohmic contact. An increase in Na–Nd to approximately 1019 cm−3 in the solid solution leads to a transition from thermionic emission (at high temperatures) to tunneling (at low temperatures).

Current flow mechanism in ohmic contact to n-4H-SiC

Current flow in an In-n-4H-SiC ohmic contact (n ≈ 3 × 1017 cm−3) has been studied by analyzing the temperature dependence of the per-unit-area contact resistance. It was found that the thermionic emission across an ∼0.1-eV barrier is the main current flow mechanism and the effective Richardson constant is ∼2 × 10−2 A cm−2 K−1.

Mechanism of current flow in alloyed ohmic In/GaAs contacts

A mechanism of current flow in an alloyed ohmic In contact to low-doped gallium arsenide (n = 4 × 1015 cm−3) is studied. From the temperature dependence of the contact resistance per unit surface area, it is found that the basic mechanism of current flow is thermionic emission through a potential barrier 0.03 eV in height.