Enhanced electrical parameters of the Au/n-Si schottky barrier diodes with graphite/graphane oxide doped PVC interlayer

Abstract In this work, Schottky Barrier diodes (SBDs) formed on n-Si substrates were created using polyvinyl-chloride (PVC) and graphite/graphene-oxide (Gt/GO) nanoparticles (NPs) doped PVC interlayers and the conduction mechanisms of the structures were compared to the reference Au/n-Si (MS) diode. The characterization methods, including x-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FE-SEM), and Energy Dispersive x-Ray (EDX), were used to analyze Gt/GO NPs and examine their structural, morphological, and analytical properties. In addition to the standard I-V method, modified Norde and Cheung methods were applied to analyze the forward bias I-V characteristics to determine the impact of pure-PVC and (PVC: Gt-GO) interlayers’ main electronic parameters on the SBDs. The surface state density ( N ss ) depending on energy was also determined from the forward bias current–voltage by considering the voltage-dependent ideality coefficient, n(V), and barrier height (BH), Φ B (V). The outcomes showed that, as compared to MS structures, both the pure-PVC and (PVC: Gt-GO) interlayer leads to a decrease of n, leakage-current, N ss , an increase of rectification ratio (RR), shunt-resistance ( R sh ) and zero-bias barrier-height (Φ B0 ). The differences in the electronic parameters observed between the I-V, Norde, and Cheung functions indicate that these parameters are highly reliant on the voltage and the computation method utilized. The barrier inhomogeneities at the metal/semiconductor surface also affect the current-transport or conduction mechanisms.