Demonstration and Analysis of Ultrahigh Forward Current Density Diamond Diodes

A diamond Schottky p-i-n diode (SPIND) with the highest reported current density to date of ~116 kA/cm
²
is demonstrated, carrying a total current of ~1.32 A through a
$50-\mu \text {m}$
wide pseudo-vertical diode structure. The diamond SPIND also provides a maximum power handling capacity of
${1.85}~ \text {MW/c}\text {m}^{{2}}$
and a low specific ON-resistance
${R}_{ \mathrm{ON}}S$
of
${0.05}~ \text {m}\Omega \cdot \text {cm}^{{{2}}}$
at a forward bias of ~16 V. The diamond Schottky p-i-n (SPIN) diode also shows excellent rectification characteristics with a current ON– OFF-ratio of
$\sim {6} \times {10}^{{12}}$
. An analytical model including thermionic emission and space charge limited (SCL) current is presented together with Silvaco ATLAS Technology Computer Aided Design (TCAD) simulations to accurately reproduce the experimental
${J}$
–
${V}$
characteristics using multiple single-trap levels and other physical models emulating a real device. Theoretical calculations from the analytical model show that further improvement in the device turn on voltage and
${R}_{ \mathrm{ON}}{S}$
can be achieved by reducing the defect density and contact resistance in order to approach the ultimate performance in the Mott–Gurney SCL current regime.