Barrier height determination in homogeneous nonideal Schottky contacts

Abstract

A novel method is proposed to determine effective barrier heights in homogeneous nonideal Schottky contact from I-V measurements. This method takes into account the different mechanisms of current flow through the metal-semiconductor interface. The total current has been expressed as the sum of two independent terms which are: (1) the thermionic current where the ideality factor value is equal to one and (2) the contribution of different transport mechanisms. The second term responds to a general expression of the thermionic emission theory where the barrier height and the ideality factor are voltage dependent. The effective barrier height is found by means of subtraction of the transport mechanism terms from the total current. The method was applied to a group of I-V experimental curves which were reported by M Barus and D Donoval 1993 Solid State Electron. 36 969.