An experimental study: Dependence of Schottky diode parameters on Schottky contact area size

We have investigated whether the Schottky barrier diodes (SBD) parameters such as the SB height and ideality factor (IF) change as a function of Schottky contact (SC) area, in the Pt/n-Si (D1Pt) and PtSi/n-Si (D2PtSi). The SC area ranges from 1.000x10−4 cm2 to 1.600x10−3 cm2. The results of this kind of study can help selection of SC dimensions suitable for many purposes in temperature, pressure and atmospheric gas composition sensors, and switching power, high-power, high-temperature and high-frequency devices. The IF and SB height values from the forward bias I–V curves at 296 K have ranged from 1.036 0.7716 eV for 1.00x10−4 cm2 to 1.013 and 0.7819 eV for 1.60x10−3 cm2 in the D1Pt diodes, respectively and from 1.073 and 0.8619 eV for 1.00x10−4 cm2 to 1.020 and 0.8897 eV for 1.60x10−3 cm2 in D2PtSi diodes, respectively. Thus, it has been seen that the SB height value has raised while the IF value has decreased with an increase in the SC area size. It has been concluded in literature that the increase in the SC diameter reveals decreasing periphery effect and absolute value of the built in electric field.