The nature of electrical interaction of Schottky contacts

Abstract

Electrical interaction between metal-semiconductor contacts combined in a diode matrix with a Schottky barrier manifests itself in an appreciable variation in their surface potentials and static current-volt-characteristics. The necessary condition for appearance of electrical interaction between such contacts consists in the presence of a peripheral electric field (a halo) around them; this field propagates to a fairly large distances (<30 μm). The sufficient condition is the presence of regions where the above halos overlap. It has been shown that variation in the surface potential and the current-voltage characteristics of contacts occurs under the effect of the intrinsic electric field of the contact’s periphery and also under the effect of an electric field at matrix periphery; the latter field is formed as a result of superposition of electric fields of halos which form its contacts. The degree of the corresponding effect is governed by the distance between contacts and by the total charge of the space charge regions for all contacts of the matrix: their number, sizes (diameter Di, j), concentration of doping impurities in the semiconductor ND, and physical nature of a metal-semiconductor system with a Schottky barrier (with the barrier height φb). It is established that bringing the contacts closer leads to a relative decrease in the threshold value of the “dead” zone in the forward current-voltage characteristics, an increase in the effective height of the barrier, and an insignificant increase in the nonideality factor. An increase in the total area of contacts (a total electric charge in the space charge region) in the matrix brings about an increase in the threshold value of the “dead” zone, a relative decrease in the effective barrier height, and an insignificant increase in the ideality factor.