Temperature dependent current-voltage characteristics of electrodeposited p-ZnO/n-Si heterojunction

Abstract

p-ZnO thin films were grown by electrochemical deposition (ECD) technique on n-Si substrate in order to form the p-ZnO/n-Si heterojunction. Hall measurement and hot probe techniques were used to determine the conductivity type of the ECD grown ZnO thin film. X-ray diffraction measurements revealed the peaks corresponding to the ZnO crystal directions of (002), (101) and (200) confirmed by the Joint Committee on Powder Diffraction Standards (JCPDS) files, indicating the polycrystalline nature of the films. The electrical characterization of p-ZnO/n-Si heterojunction was carried out in the temperature range of 80-300 K. The ideality factor and barrier height of the structure exhibited a variation between 2.49 to 5.36 and between 0.574 and 0.173 eV for this temperature ranges, respectively. The variation with temperature observed on the electrical parameters of the p-ZnO/n-Si heterojunction was explained by the introduction of a spatial distribution of barrier heights due to barrier height in homogeneities that prevail at the p-ZnO/n-Si heterojunction interface.   Key words: ZnO thin films, p-n heterojunction, electrodeposition.