Thermal sensitivity and current-voltage-temperature characteristics in Pt/epitaxy n-Si/n⁺Si structures as a function of Schottky contact area

We have investigated the thermal sensitivity of Pt/epitaxy n-Si/n+Si Schottky barrier (SB) diodes as a function of the Schottky contact (SC) area. Moreover, we have reported the current-voltage (I-V) of these SB diodes in the temperature range of 40–320 K. The V-T characteristics for the thermal sensitivity have been measured in the 20–320 K range with steps of 2 K at different current levels, which range from 10 nA to 100 μA. The V-T curves have given two linear regions at each current level, one in the low temperature (LT) region and the other in the high temperature (HT) region. The thermal sensitivity coefficient α has increased with the decreasing current level for all diodes. The α value has increased with increasing SC area at the same current level in the LT region. The case may be attributed to the barrier inhomogeneity at low temperatures. However, in the HT region, the α value has decreased very slightly with increasing SC area at the same current level, which may be ascribed to the fact that the current transport occurs over a lateral homogeneous SB height at high temperatures. The SB height and ideality factor n values from the I-V-T curves have remained approximately unchanged from 170 to 320 K.