Effect of NiO_x's film thickness on the electrical properties of Ni/p-NiOx/n-Si structures

In this study, non-stoichiometric NiO films were obtained by using radio frequency sputtering technique to fabricate a heterojunction p-n Schottky diode. The crystal structure and topographical features of nickel oxide (NiOx) films were evaluated by means of X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The X-ray diffraction analysis has shown that all films have cubic polycrystalline nature, and some microstructural properties such as lattice constant, average crystallite size, micro-strain, dislocation density were changed depending on film thickness. In addition, topography of the nickel oxide films deposited with different film thickness consisted of fine nanoscale grains, showing a consistency between scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy measurements. To evaluate electrical performance of NiOx films, high-quality vacuum evaporated silver (Ag) (ohmic) layer and nickel (Ni) (measurement electrode) dots were used. The current-voltage (I-V) measurements of Ni/p-NiOx/n-Si device indicated that all devices exhibit rectifying properties and these improve with the increasing film thickness. All electrical properties were correlated with the structural properties of the films to better understand transport mechanism of Ni/p-NiOx/n-Si device.

Journal

JOURNAL OF SANDWICH STRUCTURES & MATERIALS

Year

2021

Volume

23

Issue

4

Pages

1383-1402

ISSN

1099-6362

eISSN

1530-7972

DOI

10.1177/1099636219859198

WoS UID

WOS:000479819300001

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