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ECE 4813

Semiconductor Device and Material Characterization


Dr. Alan Doolittle School of Electrical and Computer Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology

As with all of these lecture slides, I am indebted to Dr. Dieter Schroder from Arizona State University for his generous contributions and freely given resources. Most of (>80%) the figures/slides in this lecture came from Dieter. Some of these figures are copyrighted and can be found within the class text, Semiconductor Device and Materials Characterization. Every serious microelectronics student should have a copy of this book!

ECE 4813 Dr. Alan Doolittle

Diodes
PN Junction Diodes Current - Voltage Series Resistance Schottky Diodes

ECE 4813 Dr. Alan Doolittle

PN Junction Diodes

The current in a Si pn junction diode at room temperature is due to recombination in the space-charge region, Iscr, and the quasi-neutral regions, Iqnr
q (V Irs ) q (V Irs ) exp 1 + Io ,qnr exp I = Io ,scr n kT n kT 1 scr qnr

100

For V > 3kT/q and negligible rs:


V = Irs qnr
Slope = 1/2.3nkT/q

Current (A)

10-2 10-4 10-6 10-8 scr 10-10 10-12 0 Io,scr Io,qnr 0.2 0.4 0.6

qV I = Io exp nkT

log I = log Io + qV nkT ln 10 V = 0 intercept I = Io

Slope =
0.8 1

1 d log I = ln 10 nkT q dV

Voltage (V)
ECE 4813 Dr. Alan Doolittle

PN Junction Diode Resistance

Diode series resistance reduces the current


qVd I = I0 exp 1 nkT V = Vd + Irs

q (V Irs ) I = I0 exp 1 nkT

I + V _

rs + Vd _

100

Current (A)

10-2 10-4 10-6 10-8 scr 10-10 10-12 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 qnr

V = Irs

0.8

Voltage (V)
ECE 4813 Dr. Alan Doolittle

Diode Resistance
I/gd (V)

q (V Irs ) I = Io exp nkT

0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 0 Slope = rs Intercept = nkT/q 0.2 0.4 0.6

Diode conductance
gd = I (1 rs gd ) nkT q

0.8

gd 1 rs gd = I nkT q
gd/I (V-1)
I nkT = + Irs gd q

Current (A)
40 30 Slope = qrs/nkT 20 10 Intercept = 1/rs 0 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 Intercept = q/nkT

gd (S)
ECE 4813 Dr. Alan Doolittle

Schottky Barrier Diodes


Schottky barrier diodes have I-V curves very similar to pn junction diodes The turn-on voltage can be controlled more than that of pn diodes because the barrier height can be controlled somewhat I = I s (e qV nkT 1); I s = AA*T 2e q kT
B

* * A* = 4qk 2 mn h 3 = 120(m0 mn ) A / cm 2K 2

Richardson Constant

Ec EF

Ec

Ev

EF Ev

ECE 4813 Dr. Alan Doolittle

Schottky Barrier Diodes: I - V


I = I s (e qV
nkT

1); I s = AA*T 2e q

kT

Want n, A* and B

Current - Voltage
log I = log IS + qV nkT ln 10 V = 0 intercept I = IS

10-5

Current (A)

10-7
Slope = 1/2.3nkT/q

1 d log I = Slope = ln 10 nkT q dV

10-9
Intercept = IS

kT AA*T 2 B = ln q IS

10-11 0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

Diode Voltage (V)


For V 4 kT q I = I se qV
nkT

Need to know A*

ECE 4813 Dr. Alan Doolittle

Schottky Barrier Diodes: I - T

log(J/T2) versus 1/T


To determine

B and A*

J/T2 (A/cm2K2)

q (B V n ) ln (J T ) = ln A kT
2 *

J = A*T 2 exp( q (B V n ) kT )

10-6
Intercept = A*

10-7
Slope= -q(B-V/n)/2.3k

10-8 V = 0.3 V 10-9 2.5 10-3 2.9 10-3

1/T = 0 intercept = A*

d log ( J T 2 ) q (B V n ) Slope = = B d(1 T ) k ln( 10 )

3.3 10-3

1/T (K-1)

ECE 4813 Dr. Alan Doolittle

Schottky Barrier Diodes: I - V


Barrier height can be determined from I-V or I-T plots Forward-biased current is very sensitive to barrier height If barrier height non-uniform, the lowest barrier height regions dominate Series resistance is important
101 101

Current (A)

10-1 10-3 10-5 10-7

Current (A)

0.6 V

B=0.7 V

10-1 10-3 10-5 10-7

0.6 V, rs=10 A/2, B=0.6 V A/2, B=0.7 V

A/2, B=0.6 V A/2, B=0.7 V rs=0

B=0.7 V, rs=0.1

0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6

0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6

Diode Voltage (V)

Diode Voltage (V)

ECE 4813 Dr. Alan Doolittle

Schottky Barrier Diodes: C - V

C-V measurements are less sensitive to B variations


C qK s 0ND = A 2(Vbi V ) 2(Vbi V ) A = qK s 0ND C
2

Vbi Vo Ec EF Ei

Slope ND
Slope =

(A/C)2 (cm4/F2)

2 qK s 0ND

1.5 1014 1 1014 5 1013 Intercept 0 -1 0 1 2 3 4

Intercept B
B = Vbi + Vo
Vo = EG q E i / q F

Slope

Diode Voltage (V)

ECE 4813 Dr. Alan Doolittle

Review Questions

Why is the I-V curve a straight line on a semilog plot? Why does a Si diode logI V curve have two slopes? How does series resistance affect the diode current? How is the barrier height of Schottky diodes determined? Why can the Schottky diode barrier heights be different when determined from I-V or C-V data?

ECE 4813 Dr. Alan Doolittle

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