Performance assessment of a new low-cost RF sputtered Schottky diode based on a-Si/Ti structure

In this paper, a new efficient and low-cost Schottky Diode (SD) based on a-Si/Ti structure was elaborated using RF magnetron sputtering technique. An exhaustive investigation of structural and electrical properties was performed, where the sputtered device was characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Keithley (4200-SCS) to measure the current-voltage characteristics. Moreover, a comprehensive study regarding the impact of the Ti layers on the device characteristics is carried out. It was demonstrated that implementing Ti intermediate layers could induce depletion regions at the interfaces, leading to significantly enlarged voltage barrier height. Furthermore, the elaborated SD exhibits a rectification behavior providing an appropriate current with a favorable ideality factor. This is mainly due to the reduced series resistance of the multilayer structure as confirmed by electrical analysis. Therefore, the proposed SD structure based on Ti intermediate layers provides improved performance and can open a new route for the fabrication of promising alternative devices for microelectronic and sensing applications.