In Situ Investigation of Current Transport Across Pt/n-Si (100) Schottky Junction During 100 $\hbox{MeV Ni}^{+7}$ Ion Irradiation

Abstract

In situ current-voltage (I-V) analyses of Pt/n-Si (100) Schottky barrier (SB) diode are carried out during 100 MeV Ni+7 ion beam irradiation. The effect of MeV ion beam on the electrical parameters like ideality factor (η) and SB height (SBH) (φB) of SB diode is investigated. For lower fluences, SBH decreases from its preradiation value, but there is almost no change in SBH for ion fluences ranging from 5×1011 to 1×1013 ions/cm2. The reverse current is increased by about two orders of magnitude at the fluence of 5×1013 ions/cm2 which corresponds to an exposure of a few tens of years in low earth orbit. The radiation-induced diffusion of Schottky metal into the semiconductor and creation of trap centers at the metal-semiconductor interface are supposed to be the most plausible mechanisms for these deviations in SB diode characteristics.