Abstract
Owing to the innate stabilization of built-in potential in p–n junction or metal-oxide-semiconductor structure, the sensitivity and linearity of most lateral photovoltaic effect (LPE) devices is always fixed after fabrication. Here we report a nonvolatile and tunable switching effect of lateral photo-voltage (LPV) in Cu dusted ultrathin metal-oxide-semiconductor structure. With the stimulation of electric pulse and local illumination, the sensitivity and linearity of LPV can be adjusted up and down in a nonvolatile manner. This phenomenon is attributed to a controllable change of the Schottky barrier formed between the metal layer and silicon substrate, including the consequent change of film resistivity. This work may widely improve the performance of existing LPE-based devices and suggest new applications for LPE in other areas.
Highlights
The State Key Laboratory of Advanced Optical Communication Systems and Networks, Department of Physics and Astronomy, the Key Laboratory of Thin Film and Nano-microfabrication Technology of the Ministry of Education, and Department of Instrument Science and Engineering, Shanghai JiaoTong University, 800 Dongchuan Rd, Shanghai 200240, P
More direct visualized SEM and AFM images of this discontinuity and the growth mode can be found in other previous reports[28,29]
If we want to improve the performance of LPV devices, we must try to increase the metal film resistivity ρ and the Schottky barrier height Φ, and reduce the thickness of metal film t at the same time
Summary
We deposited Cu films on n-type Si (1 1 1) (0.3 mm with an oxide layer) at room temperature by radio-frequency sputtering. The deposition rates, determined by stylus profile meter on thick calibration samples, were 0.41 Å/s. All the contacts (less than 1 mm in diameter) to the films were formed by alloying indium and showed no measurable rectifying behavior (ohmic contact). Several ultrathin Cu films were deposited with various thicknesses from 0.4 nm to 4 nm. More direct visualized SEM and AFM images of this discontinuity and the growth mode can be found in other previous reports[28,29]. The deposited Cu thickness in our samples is only a nominal thickness
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