Fabrication and characterization of nichrome metal based Schottky diode on silicon

Abstract

Modern electronic devices are inconvincible without implementation of metal–semiconductor (M−S) junctions. Those junctions, either in Schottky or in Ohmic form, have been largely utilized in various energy, microelectronic mechanical systems (MEMS), and microelectronic devices. Present work demonstrates the fabrication and characterization of nichrome metal based Schottky diode on silicon. Nichrome metal has non-corrosive and antioxidant nature, which is vital for devices performing in hazardous environments. Under a vacuum of ∼ 10−6 torr, Nichrome metal (80% Nickle + 20% chromium) was deposited on an n-Si wafer with the e-beam evaporation technique. A shadow mask was used to delineate Schottky contact of diameter 0.5 mm. The manufactured device’s current–voltage characteristics were measured on room temperature and dominant current conduction mechanism, barrier height, ideality factor, were also identified. The non-ideality present in the device has been discussed in terms of defects at the interface.