Current transport mechanisms in n-type amorphous silicon-carbon on p-type crystalline silicon (a-:H/c-Si) heterojunction diodes

Abstract

N-type amorphous silicon-carbon on p-type crystalline silicon heterojunction diodes have been fabricated and electrically characterized. The a-Si 0.8 C 0.2 :H film was deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition. The electrical properties were investigated by capacitance-voltage and current-voltage measurements at different temperatures. Current-voltage characteristics present good rectifying properties, 60 000:1 at ±0.5 V at room temperature. The analysis of current-voltage characteristics at different temperatures indicates that the current is dominated by recombination at the a-Si 0.8 C 0.2 :H side of the space charge region in forward bias. The reverse characteristics show a leakage current which increases exponentially with the applied voltage. Finally, numerical simulations are presented which explain the experimental results throughout the temperature range.

Electrical characterization of n-type a-SiGe:H/p-type crystalline-silicon heterojunctions

“…As can be seen, this value is very close to E g aSiGe:H/2 , and together with the values obtained for η, it may be concluded that the recombination on the amorphous side of the space charge seems to be the dominant mechanism. The results presented are in good agreement with those obtained by Marsal [4][5][6] and Xu [11]. However, our results are in contrast with those obtained by Matsuura [2], who suggested that tunnelling is the main mechanism for the low bias region.…”

“…However, in order to understand the performance of this junction for different applications, a deep understanding of the physical properties and transport mechanisms governing its electrical behaviour is required. Nevertheless, the transport mechanisms involved in this kind of amorphous/crystalline heterojunction are not as well known as those of other amorphous heterojunctions, such as a-Si:H/p-type crystalline silicon [2][3][4] and a-SiC:H/ptype crystalline silicon [5,6]. The study of this heterojunction is the first step towards the understanding of more complex devices, for example, a heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT).…”

Investigation of Al Schottky junction on n-type CdS film deposited on polymer substrate

“…If the current transport is due to diffusion, n is equal to 1 and the activation energy is equal to the band gap of the semiconductor [30]. But in the present study, the activation energy calculated by Fig.…”

Fabrication and electrical characterization of thermally deposited amorphous Se0.82In0.18 on n-Si (100)

“…The latter include: ZnO/CdTe [21], a-Si:H/pSi [22] and Cd/CdTe [23]. However, other works showed a dependence of A on temperature, as in the two cases of aSi:H/p-Si [24][25][26], a-Si 1−x C x :H/c-Si [27,28] as well as for a-SiC/p-Si [29,30]. The independency of the voltage factor A on temperature implies that the transport phenomenon is limited by a tunneling mechanism, [31,32].…”