Comparison between current-voltage measurements and energy band diagrams of metal/p-type cupric oxide contacts
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31349/RevMexFis.72.041006Keywords:
Ohmic contact, cupric oxide, energy band diagrams, metals, I-V curveAbstract
The need to generate ohmic contact between a metal and a semiconductor is fundamental for the development of electronic devices or integrated circuits. The aim of this report is to study the electrical contact between platinum, silver and gold to p-type cupric oxide films. Thermal oxidation was carried out on copper sheets at 1000 °C for 24 h to grown cupric oxide films. The metal/cupric oxide contacts were fabricated by evaporation of the metals on the surface of the cupric oxide films by the direct-current sputtering method. Determination of the crystal structure of the cupric oxide films was determined by the X-ray diffraction technique. Electrical characterization of the metal/cupric oxide films was performed by current-voltage measurements, where, independently of the metal used for the contact, all graphs exhibited ohmic behavior. Energy band diagrams of the metal/cupric oxide contact were developed based on the Schottky-Mott model. Current-voltage measurements matched well with the energy band diagrams only for platinum, which was favored by the high value of the work function of platinum. Conversely, the energy band diagrams corresponding to the silver/cupric oxide and gold/cupric oxide contacts, exhibited rectifying behavior. It was suggested that the mismatch between the current-voltage measurements and the energy band diagrams was due to the presence of defects at the surface of cupric oxide films, which led to the pinning of the Fermi level through the metal/semiconductor junction, making the contact, independent of the work functions.
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