Current Conduction in Nichrome/p-Si Schottky Diode

Schottky diodes are widely explored in the last few years due to their high sensitivity, low operating temperature, high selectivity and low working cost. High efficiency, low forward voltage drop and low capacitance make Schottky diodes suitable for using in voltage clamping devices, solar panels, power rectifiers, radio frequency mixtures, detector diode and switched-mode power supplies. Much work has been done on metals and their silicides as Schottky diodes; however, as far as we can tell, there is a lack of insight using alloys as Schottky diodes. In the present work, the development and characterization of a silicon-based Schottky diode based on a nichrome alloy are discussed. Electron beam deposition technique was used to fabricate a wire-shaped nichrome alloy with composition Ni-80 wt%: Cr-20wt%. Capacitance–voltage and current–voltage measurements at room temperature were used to examine the electrical properties of nichrome/p-Si Schottky connections, confirming that the alloy is compatible with conventional silicon fabrication techniques. Calculations of crucial device parameters, including ideality factor, trap centres’ energy level and density and barrier height, were made in an effort to understand the observed current conduction mechanism in diode that had been manufactured.