Comparison of Parameter Extraction Techniques for SiC Schottky Diodes

Schottky barrier diodes fabricated on Silicon carbide have been demonstrated as gas sensors for deployment in extreme environments. It has been shown that the interfacial layer formed at the Metal – Semiconductor junction, determines both the sensitivity and the reliability of the device. Hence, accurate knowledge of the thickness and interfacial trap density of this layer is required to make predictions of the behaviour of the sensor in the environment under investigation and to predict its variation with time. Diode parameters, such as the ideality factor, barrier height and series resistance have been extracted from experimental measurements on Palladium Schottky Barrier diodes on 4H SiC, over a range of temperatures. The comparison of the parameters extracted from modified Norde function, Cheung's method and Thermonic Emission model has been performed. The variation in the barrier height obtained is quite marked between the different techniques. The reverse I-V characteristics have been used to extract thickness of the interfacial layer, by fitting to the experimental data using the TEBIL model to extract the value of Dit from ä and the ideality factor, assuming the interfacial layer is stoichiometric SiO2 . This allows a comparison between the effective interfacial layer behaviour for the different parameter extraction techniques and demonstrates that knowledge of this interfacial layer is influenced by the technique selected.