Effect of Low Temperature Annealing on ITO-on-Si Schottky Junction

In this letter, we investigate electrical properties of the indium-tin oxide (ITO)-on-Si Schottky junctions and the effect of a low temperature annealing on the properties. The ITO films are deposited by RF magnetron sputtering on n-type and p-type crystalline Si wafers. By measuring current-voltage and capacitance-voltage characteristics, it is found that a layer of positive fixed charge is formed at the interface between the ITO and the Si by sputtering damage and that the charge layer distorts the barrier height of the ITO-on-Si junction. The low temperature annealing makes the ITO on p- and n-Si junctions ohmic-like and rectifying, respectively, by changing the barrier height.