Annealing Effect on Microstructure and ElectricalCharacteristics of n-ZnO/p-Si HetrojunctionDiode Fabricated by RF Sputtering Process

Abstract

This article reports fabrication and microstructural characterization ofn-ZnO/p-Si heterojunction diode. Nanostructured Zinc Oxide (ZnO) thinfilm was deposited on p-type silicon (Si) and glass substrates using RFsputtering process for fabricating n-ZnO/p-Si heterojunction diode. Theeffect of annealing temperature on the structural and morphologicalproperties of ZnO thin films has been observed. After deposition,these films are annealed. Structural properties, surface morphologyand quality of thin film have been studied using XRD, AFM, FE-SEMand Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscope (EDX) measurements. XRDresults confirms the formation of ZnO. The crystallite size of ZnO filmswas increased by annealing it at 523 K. The average crystallite size ofas deposited nanostructured ZnO thin film was found to be 28 nm.The junction properties of n-ZnO/p-Si heterojunction diodes wereinvestigated using current–voltage measurements. The current wereanalyzed by sweeping the voltage from -6V to +6V and and the kneevoltage was found to be around 1.9V.