CHAPTER9MetalSemiconductor and

SemiconductorHeterojunctions
Determinetheenergybanddiagramofametalsemiconductor
junction.
Investigatetheelectrostaticsoftherectifyingmetal
semiconductorjunction,whichisknownastheSchottky barrier
diode.
DerivetheidealcurrentvoltagerelationoftheSchottky barrier
diode.
Discussdifferencesinthecurrenttransportmechanism
betweentheSchottky barrierdiodeandpn junctiondiode,and
discussdifferencesinturnonvoltageandswitchingtimes.
Discussohmic contacts,whicharelowresistance,nonrectifying
metalsemiconductorjunctions.
Investigatethecharacteristicsofasemiconductor
heterojunction.
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9.1|THESCHOTTKYBARRIER
DIODE
9.1.1QualitativeCharacteristics
Theparameterm isthemetal
workfunction(measuredinvolts),
s isthesemiconductorwork
function,
Xisknownastheelectronaffinity.
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InorderfortheFermileveltobecomeaconstantthroughthesystemin
thermalequilibrium,electronsfromthesemiconductorflowintothelower
energystatesinthemetal.
Positivelychargeddonoratomsremaininthesemiconductor,creatinga
spacechargeregion.
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V
R
isthemagnitudeofthereversebiasedvoltageandVa isthemagnitudeof
theforwardbiasvoltage.
weexpectthecurrentvoltagecharacteristicsoftheSchottky barrierjunction
tobesimilartotheexponentialbehaviorofthepn junctiondiode.
Thecurrentmechanismhere,however,isduetotheflowofmajoritycarrier
electrons.
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9.1.2IdealJunctionProperties
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CommentofEx9.2,
Theexperimentalvalueof0.52Vcanbecomparedwiththeidealbarrier
heightofB0=0.54V.Theseresultsagreefairlywell.
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thebuiltinpotentialbarrierofthegallium
arsenideSchottky diodeislargerthanthatof
thesilicondiode.
9.1.3Nonideal EffectsontheBarrierHeigh
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CommentofEx.9.3,
AlthoughtheSchottky barrierloweringmayseemlikeasmallvalue, itcanthushave
asignificanteffectonthecurrentinaSchottky barrierdiode.
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InterfaceStates
Thebarrierheightofthemetalsemiconductorjunctionisdeterminedby
boththemetalworkfunctionandthesemiconductorsurfaceorinterface
states.
assumethatallstatesbelow the
surfacepotential0aredonor
states,whichwillbeneutralifthe
statecontainsanelectronand
positivelychargedifthestatedoes
notcontainanelectron.
assumethatallstatesabove 0are
acceptorstates,whichwillbeneutral
ifthestatedoesnotcontainan
electronand negativelychargedif
thestatecontainsanelectron.
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Weassumethatanarrow
interfaciallayerof
insulatorexistsbetween
themetaland
semiconductor.
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9.1.4CurrentVoltageRelationship
Thecurrenttransportinametalsemiconductorjunctionisduemainly
tomajoritycarriersasopposedtominoritycarriersinapn junction.
Thebasicprocessintherectifyingcontactwithanntype
semiconductorisbytransportofelectronsoverthepotentialbarrier,
whichcanbedescribedbythethermionicemissiontheory.
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Thereverse biasedcurrent
increaseswithreverse
biasedvoltagebecauseof
thebarrierloweringeffect.
ThenetresultisthatA*andJsT
willvarywidelybetweensilicon
andgalliumarsenide.
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9.1.5 ComparisonoftheSchottky BarrierDiodeandthepn JunctionDiode
therearetwoimportantdifferencesbetweenaSchottky diodeandapn
junctiondiode:
Thefirstisinthemagnitudesofthereversesaturationcurrentdensities
Thesecondisintheswitchingcharacteristics.
Thecurrentinapn junctionisdeterminedbythediffusionofminority
carriers whilethecurrentinaSchottky barrierdiodeisdeterminedby
thermionicemissionofmajoritycarriersoverapotentialbarrier.
CommentofEx.9.5,Theidealreversesaturationcurrentdensityofthe
Schottky barrierjunctionisordersofmagnitudelargerthanthatofthe
idealpn junctiondiode.
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SinceJsT >Js ,theforwardbias
characteristicsofthetwotypes
ofdiodeswillalsobedifferent.
CommentofEx.9.6,
theSchottky barrierdiodehasa
turnonvoltagethatis
approximately0.37Vsmaller
thantheturnonvoltageofthe
pn junctiondiode.
Thesecondmajordifferenceisinthefrequencyresponse
thereisnodiffusioncapacitanceassociatedwithaforwardbiased
Schottky diode.Theeliminationofthediffusioncapacitancemakesthe
Schottky diodeahigher frequencydevicethanthepn junctiondiode.
whenswitchingaSchottky diodefromforwardtoreversebias,thereis
nominoritycarrierstoredchargetoremove,asisthecaseinthepn
junctiondiode.
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9.2|METALSEMICONDUCTOROHMICCONTACTS
Contactsmustbemadebetweenanysemiconductordevice,or
integratedcircuit,andtheoutsideworld.Thesecontactsaremadevia
ohmic contacts.
9.2.1IdealNonrectifying Barrier
consideredanidealmetalntypesemiconductorcontactwhenm >s
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Ifapositivevoltageisappliedto
themetal,thereisnobarrierto
electronsflowingfromthe
semiconductorintothemetal.
Ifapositivevoltageisappliedto
thesemiconductor,theeffective
barrierheightforelectrons
flowingfromthemetalintothe
semiconductorwillbe
approximatelyBn =n,.
anidealnonrectifying
contactbetweenametal
andaptypesemiconductor
whenm >s.
Thisjunctionisalsoan
ohmic contact.
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ifm <s forthemetalntypesemiconductorcontact,andif
m >s forthemetalptypesemiconductorcontact,wemay
notnecessarilyformagoodohmic contact.
9.2.2TunnelingBarrier
Thespacechargewidthinarectifyingmetalsemiconductor
contactisinverselyproportionaltothesquarerootofthe
semiconductordoping.
CommentofEx9.7,
Inaheavilydoped
semiconductor,the
depletionwidthisonthe
orderofangstroms,sothat
tunnelingisnowadistinct
possibility.Forthesetypes
ofbarrierwidths,tunneling
maybecomethedominant
currentmechanism.
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Fordopingconcentrationsgreaterthan
approximately10
19
cm
3
,thetunnelingprocess
dominatesandRc showstheexponential
dependenceonNd.
Forlowerdopingconcentrations,theRc valuesare
dependentonthebarrierheightsandbecomealmost
independentofthedoping.
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Toformagoodohmic contact,
weneedtocreatealowbarrier
anduseahighlydoped
semiconductoratthesurface.
Lowbarriersarenotpossibleon
somematerials,soaheavily
dopedsemiconductoratthe
surfacemustbeusedtoforma
tunnelingcontact.
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9.3|HETEROJUNCTIONS
Twodifferentsemiconductormaterialsareusedtoformajunction,the
junctioniscalledasemiconductorheterojunction.
Inordertohaveausefulheterojunction,thelatticeconstantsofthe
twomaterialsmustbewellmatched.
9.3.2EnergyBandDiagrams
theforbiddenbandgap ofthewidegapmaterialcompletelyoverlapsthe
bandgap ofthenarrowgapmaterial,calledstraddling,appliestomost
heterojunctions.
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Therearefourbasictypesofheterojunction.Thoseinwhichthe
dopanttypechangesatthejunctionarecalledanisotype.Wecan
formnP orNp junctions,wherethecapitalletterindicatesthelarger
bandgap material.Heterojunctions withthesamedopanttypeon
eithersideofthejunctionarecalledisotype. WecanformnN andpP
isotype heterojunctions.
Ifthevacuumleveliscontinuous,
thenthesameEc andEv
discontinuitieswillexistatthe
heterojunction interface.This
idealsituationisknownasthe
electronaffinityrule.
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electronsfromthenarrow
gapnregionandholes
fromthewidegapPregion
mustflowacrossthe
junction.
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9.3.3TwoDimensionalElectron
Gas
electronsfromthewidebandgap
AlGaAs flowintotheGaAs,
forminganaccumulationlayerof
electronsinthepotentialwell
adjacenttotheinterface.
theenergyofanelectron
containedinapotentialwellis
quantized,ie,twodimensional
electrongas.
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Themovementoftheelectrons
paralleltotheinterfacewillstillbe
influencedbythecoulombattraction
oftheionizedimpuritiesinthe
AlGaAs.Theeffectoftheseforces
canbefurtherreducedbyusinga
gradedAlGaAsGaAs heterojunction.
Thequalitativedistributionof
electronsinthepotentialwell
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*9.3.4EquilibriumElectrostatics
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*9.3.5CurrentVoltageCharacteristics
TheenergybanddiagramsinFigures9.18and9.23demonstratethatthe
barrierheightsforelectronsandholesinaheterojunction canbe
significantlydifferent.
ThebarrierheightforelectronsinFigure9.18islargerthanthatforholes,
sowewouldexpectthecurrentduetoelectronstobeinsignificant
comparedtotheholecurrent.Ifthebarrierheightforelectronsis0.2eV
largerthanthatforholes,theelectroncurrentwillbeapproximatelya
factorof10
4
smallerthantheholecurrent,assumingallotherparameters
areequal.
TheoppositesituationexistsforthebanddiagramshowninFigure9.23.