High-field, nonlinear electron transport in lightly doped Schottky-barrier diodes

Abstract The high-field transport of electrons in an n -type Schottky barrier diode is analyzed in relation to the existing synthesis of drift-diffusion (DD) and thermionic emission (TE) theories. Energy relaxation is shown to play a significant role in allowing the DDTE theory to encompass as wide an applicability as it does in spite of its underlying assumptions. The transport equations for energy and momentum balance are solved for the electrostatic potential distribution of a Schottky diode while including quasi-ballistic effects of the inertia of the energy and momentum fluxes. Relaxation of both momentum and energy is included through scattering with ionized impurities, acoustic phonons and optical phonons. The model is applied to a silicon Schottky barrier and the results related to the existing theories.

[1]  R. Stratton,et al.  Field and thermionic-field emission in Schottky barriers , 1966 .

[2]  Inclusion of carrier temperature effects in a thermionic-diffusion theory of the schottky barrier , 1974 .

[3]  Chun-Yen Chang,et al.  Carrier transport across metal-semiconductor barriers , 1970 .

[4]  Giorgio Baccarani.  Current transport in Schottky‐barrier diodes , 1976 .

[5]  C. R. Crowell,et al.  Erratum: Quantum‐Mechanical Reflection of Electrons at Metal‐Semiconductor Barriers: Electron Transport in Semiconductor‐Metal‐Semiconductor Structures , 1966 .

[6]  C. R. Crowell.  Richardson constant and tunneling effective mass for thermionic and thermionic-field emission in Schottky barrier diodes , 1969 .

[7]  J. Frey,et al.  Two-dimensional numerical simulation of energy transport effects in Si and GaAs MESFET's , 1982, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices.

[8]  D. Ferry.  First-order optical and intervalley scattering in semiconductors , 1976 .

[9]  C. R. Crowell,et al.  Photoelectron injection at metal-semiconductor interfaces , 1980 .

[10]  D. Howarth,et al.  The theory of electronic conduction in polar semi-conductors , 1953, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A. Mathematical and Physical Sciences.

[11]  K. S. Champlin,et al.  Cutoff Frequency of Submillimeter Schottky-Barrier Diodes , 1978 .

[12]  J. Ziman,et al.  In: Electrons and Phonons , 1961 .

[13]  C. R. Crowell,et al.  Current transport in metal-semiconductor barriers , 1966 .

[14]  C. Herring,et al.  Transport and Deformation-Potential Theory for Many-Valley Semiconductors with Anisotropic Scattering , 1956 .

[15]  C. R. Crowell,et al.  Electron-optical-phonon scattering in the emitter and collector barriers of semiconductor-metal-semiconductor structures , 1965 .

[16]  C. R. Crowell.  The Richardson constant for thermionic emission in Schottky barrier diodes , 1965 .

[17]  A. M. Mazzone,et al.  Monte Carlo simulation of current transport in forward-biased Schottky-barrier diodes , 1976 .

[18]  S. M. Sze,et al.  Physics of semiconductor devices , 1969 .

[19]  D. Long.  Scattering of Conduction Electrons by Lattice Vibrations in Silicon , 1960 .

[20]  R. Stratton,et al.  Differential resistance peaks of Schottky barrier diodes , 1967 .

[21]  A. van der Ziel,et al.  Infrared detection and mixing in heavily doped Schottky‐barrier diodes , 1976 .

[22]  John R. Barker,et al.  Physics of nonlinear transport in semiconductors , 1980 .

[23]  C. Goldberg.  Electric Current in a Semiconductor Space‐Charge Region , 1969 .

[24]  Zur Theorie des Germaniumgleichrichters und des Transistors , 1953 .

[25]  K. Hess,et al.  A carrier temperature model simulation of a double-drift IMPATT diode , 1981, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices.

[26]  K. Blotekjaer.  Transport equations for electrons in two-valley semiconductors , 1970 .

[27]  J. Gunn.  Transport of Electrons in a Strong Built‐in Electric Field , 1968 .

[28]  S. Schwarz,et al.  Transport theory of high-frequency rectification in Schottky barriers , 1979 .

[29]  The Richardson constant for thermionic emission in Schottky barrier diodes , 1969 .

[30]  R. Stratton,et al.  Diffusion of Hot and Cold Electrons in Semiconductor Barriers , 1962 .

[31]  Victor F. Weisskopf,et al.  Theory of Impurity Scattering in Semiconductors , 1950 .