ABSTRACT It is very common that the driven voltage of the Light emitting diode device is around 1.8eV~2.2eV, however, in its applications the voltage that applied on the circuit is higher than this specification (3 eV as usual). It will be very annoying that the design of the LED circuit should always be in series with an extra resistor in order to protect the LED. In here we propose a method with a schottky contact structure on the device that we can solve this problem. Before we proceed this method, we had better fully understand the characteristics of the material physical properties , schottky contact and ohmic contact ,also include of the process of device. The substrate of the LED diode was chosen with N-GaP(111). The metal for the ohmic contact in this device is composed of Au/Au-Ge alloy. As to the schottky contact , the metal is formed by using Au element. The techniques for characterizing these contact properties include current-voltage (I-V), specific contact resistance (rc), ideal factor and current transport etc. The LED diode is also annealed at 450ºC for 10 minutes for improving the performance. The X-ray diffraction technique is applied to Investigate the interface of the contact area. The results of this experiment are summarized below: (I) The I-V curve of Ohmic contact is linear and contact resistance irc =7

Zinc oxide is a II-VI semiconductor with considerable potential for optoelectronic and power-electronic applications in the UV spectrum, due to its wide direct band gap (3.35 eV at 300 K), high exciton binding energy (60 meV), high melting point, and excellent radiation hardness. A key requirement for many device applications is the consistent production of high performance Schottky contacts. Schottky contact formation to n-type ZnO was investigated via systematic studies into the relative performance of different metal and metal oxide Schottky contacts to hydrothermal and melt grown, bulk ZnO. The results of these studies can be explained by the dominating influence of two key mechanisms in the formation of high quality contacts: the removal of the natural hydroxide termination of ZnO and the associated surface accumulation layer, and the minimisation of process induced oxygen vacancies which tend to pin the barrier height of ZnO Schottky contacts in the 0.6 - 0.8 eV range. These investigations also led to the discovery of a new technique for the consistent production of high quality ZnO Schottky contacts, using the deposition of metal oxide films in reactive oxygen ambients. Specifically, silver oxide, iridium oxide, and platinum oxide films were used to consistently produce highly rectifying, very low ideality factor Schottky contacts to bulk ZnO, with figures of merit significantly better than those published in the literature. In addition, a number of previously unreported, surface polarity related effects were discovered in the electrical and optical properties of ZnO, which increase in magnitude with decreasing carrier concentration of the ZnO material. For example, metal oxide Schottky contacts fabricated on the Zn-polar surface of hydrothermal ZnO have significantly higher barrier heights than those on the O-polar surface, and low temperature (4 K) photoluminescence emission, from free excitons and excitons bound to ionised donors, is also significantly stronger from the Zn-polar face of the same material. These effects are thought to be related to the large spontaneous polarisation (-0.057 Cm-2) of ZnO, and indicate that surface polarity is an important variable when comparing experiment results with theoretical models, and in the future design of ZnO based devices.

In this study, the dependence of metal/Alq3 Schottky contact barrier on the current¡Vvoltage characteristics of organic light emitting diodes was investigated to know the charge injection mechanism of OLED with the single-layer metal/Alq3/ metal structures, and the current density increases obviously with the reduction of contact potential barrier. As the thin LiF layer is inserted between the Al electrode and the Alq3 layer, it shows that the electron injection was promoted, and higher electroluminescence efficiency was also obtained. Both the energetic barrier and the tunneling integral parameter are reduced when the LiF layer thickness increases. For very thin films of LiF, the beneficial effect of the barrier reduction is dominant. When the film grows thicker, the negative insulating effect becomes dominant. Besides of simulating the current¡Vvoltage characteristics of organic light emitting diodes (OLED) based on Alq3 in combination with different cathodes, it was simulated that the current¡Vvoltage characteristics of OLED with an inserted LiF layer between metal and organic material, and then the OLED with various thicknesses of LiF films were also simulated. Finally, the result of simulations was compared to achieve a better description for the characteristics of current¡Vvoltage for the single carrier and layer based OLED.

This study presents the GaSb epitaxial grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on the semi-insulating GaAs substrate and n+-GaAs substrate. Investigations are made to the effect of Sb4/Ga beam equivalent pressure (BEP) ratios on the current-voltage characteristics of the p-n hetero-junction and the metal-GaSb semiconductor Schottky contact for various metals deposited on n-type GaSb layers. Several growth conditions were taken to improve the quality of GaSb epitaxial films. The structure of GaSb epitaxial layers are characterized by the X-ray diffraction, and the optimum growth conditions 500¢J of substrate temperature and the Sb4/Ga flux ratio about 2~3 have been obtained. From the I-V curve of GaSb Schottky diodes, we know that the higher Sb4/Ga ratio will induce the lower breakdown voltage. Hence, the interface properties of hetero-junction between the GaSb/GaAs and metal/GaSb can be investigated by the current-voltage characteristics, in which the current leakages and the surface state density are strongly dependent on the ratio of Sb4/Ga BEP. Based on the thermionic emission theory, the barrier height obtained was decrease with the Sb4/Ga ratio increases. After metal deposited on the GaSb epitaxial film to form the Schottky diode, the density of surface states can be calculated from the relationship of metal work-function and barrier height, which were obtained from the current-voltage characteristics of Schottky diode measurement, and then it also found that the density of surface states show decrease as the Sb4/Ga ratio increase.

No presente trabalho foi desenvolvida uma teoria de característica elétrica da estrutura metal-isolante-metal considerando uma camada fina de óxido entre o metal e o isolante, sendo o óxido um outro isolante de banda de energia proibida mais larga. Foi considerada uma distribuição energética uniforme de estados de impurezas à interface óxido-isolante. Estudamos a distribuição real do potencial na região de carga espacial usando a equação de Poisson. Através desta distribuição obtemos a relação entre o potencial de contato e a carga positiva na região de depleção e assim a característica capacitância-voltagem da estrutura. Este tipo de característica é útil para se calcular as características corrente em função do potencial e corrente em função do tempo para um dado potencial e deste modo é importante para o entendimento das estruturas MIM e MOIM. / In this work we have developed a theory of electric characteristic of the metal-oxide-insulator-metal structure, considering a thin film of oxide between metal and insulator; the oxide is another insulator of wider forbidden energy gap. A uniform energy distribution of impurity states at the oxide-insulator interface was considered. W e have studied the actual distribution of potential in the region of spatial charge using the Poisson equation. With this distribution we obtain the relation between the contact potential and the charge in the depletion region and then the characteristic potential - capacitance of t his structure. This type of characteristic is useful to calculate the characteristic current - potential, and current-time at a given potential . In this manner it is important to the understanding of MIM and MOIM structures.

No presente trabalho foi desenvolvida uma teoria de característica elétrica da estrutura metal-isolante-metal considerando uma camada fina de óxido entre o metal e o isolante, sendo o óxido um outro isolante de banda de energia proibida mais larga. Foi considerada uma distribuição energética uniforme de estados de impurezas à interface óxido-isolante. Estudamos a distribuição real do potencial na região de carga espacial usando a equação de Poisson. Através desta distribuição obtemos a relação entre o potencial de contato e a carga positiva na região de depleção e assim a característica capacitância-voltagem da estrutura. Este tipo de característica é útil para se calcular as características corrente em função do potencial e corrente em função do tempo para um dado potencial e deste modo é importante para o entendimento das estruturas MIM e MOIM. / In this work we have developed a theory of electric characteristic of the metal-oxide-insulator-metal structure, considering a thin film of oxide between metal and insulator; the oxide is another insulator of wider forbidden energy gap. A uniform energy distribution of impurity states at the oxide-insulator interface was considered. W e have studied the actual distribution of potential in the region of spatial charge using the Poisson equation. With this distribution we obtain the relation between the contact potential and the charge in the depletion region and then the characteristic potential - capacitance of t his structure. This type of characteristic is useful to calculate the characteristic current - potential, and current-time at a given potential . In this manner it is important to the understanding of MIM and MOIM structures.

A conductive atomic force microscopy (c-AFM) investigation of GaN nanostructures is reported for strain engineering optoelectronic and piezotronic devices. The use of AFM enables the simultaneous correlation between the surface morphology and charge carrier transport through the nanostructures. The samples under investigation are molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) grown InGaN/GaN nanowires on Ti coated Mo substrate and GaN nanowires on ITO. The metal-semiconductor interface between the metallic substrates and the GaN nanostructures form the bottom contact. A Pt-Ir coated AFM probe is used to create a Schottky top nano-contact. The two interfaces form a metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) structure. Force and temperature-dependent IV curves are obtained and analyzed, and the MSM structure parameters are extracted. Modulation of both the conductivity and Schottky barrier height (SBH) is revealed. Drastic reduction of the barrier is observed to drive the junctions to ideal MSM under a combination of force and temperature, revealing a dynamic and controlled two-way switching of the devices from rectifying to ideal linear IV properties. Through compressive force modulation by AFM tip, a symmetric 80 meV reduction in SBH at ±0.7 V is realized for the sample grown on Mo. By a combination of temperature and force modulation, a 40 meV increase in SBH is achieved at 0.53 V for the sample on ITO. These results show that the formed structure is ideal for applications in optoelectronics, sensing, piezotronic, piezo-phototronic, and nano-energy harvesting devices.

No description available.

Gallium Oxide (Ga2O3) has emerged over the last decade as a new up-and-coming alternative to traditional wide bandgap semiconductors. It exists as five polymorphs (α-, β-, γ-, δ-, and ε-Ga2O3), of which β-Ga2O3 is the thermodynamically stable form, and the most extensively studied phase. β-Ga2O3 has a wide bandgap of ~4.8 eV and exhibits a superior figure-of-merit for power devices compared to other wide bandgap materials, such as SiC and GaN. These make β-Ga2O3 a promising candidate in a host of electronic and optoelectronic applications. Recent advances in β-Ga2O3 single crystals growth have also made inexpensive β-Ga2O3 single crystal grown from the melt a possibility in the near future. Despite the plethora of literature on β-Ga2O3-based devices, understanding of contacts to this material --- a device component that fundamentally determines device characteristics — remained lacking. For this research, ohmic and Schottky metal contacts to Sn-doped β-Ga2O3 (-201) single crystal substrates, unintentionally doped (UID) homoepitaxial β-Ga2O3 (010) on Sn-doped β-Ga2O3 grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), and UID heteroepitaxial β-Ga2O3 (-201) epitaxial layers on c-plane sapphire by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) were investigated. Each of the substrates was characterized for their structural, morphological, electrical, and optical properties, the results will be presented in the following document. Nine metals (Ti, In, Ag, Sn, W, Mo, Sc, Zn, and Zr) with low to moderate work functions were studied as possible ohmic contacts to β-Ga2O3. It was found that select metals displayed either ohmic (Ti and In) or pseudo-ohmic (Ag, Sn and Zr) behavior under certain conditions. However, the morphology was often a problem as many thin film metal contacts dewetted the substrate surface. Ti with a Au capping layer with post-metallization annealing treatment was the only consistently reliable ohmic contact to β-Ga2O3. It was concluded that metal work function is not a dominant factor in forming an ohmic contact to β-Ga2O3 and that limited interfacial reactions appear to play an important role. Prior to a systematic study of Schottky contacts to β-Ga2O3, a comparison of the effects of five different wet chemical surface treatments on the β-Ga2O3 Schottky diodes was made. It was established that a treatment with an organic solvent clean followed by HCl, H2O2 and a deionized water rinse following each step yielded the best results. Schottky diodes based on (-201) β-Ga2O3 substrates and (010) β-Ga2O3 homoepitaxial layers were formed using five different Schottky metals with moderate to high work functions: W, Cu, Ni, Ir, and Pt. Schottky barrier heights (SBHs) calculated from current-voltage (I-V) and capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurements of the five selected metals were typically in the range of 1.0 – 1.3 eV and 1.6 – 2.0 eV, respectively, and showed little dependence on the metal work function. Several diodes also displayed inhomogeneous Schottky barrier behavior at room temperature. The results indicate that bulk or near-surface defects and/or unpassivated surface states may have a more dominant effect on the electrical behavior of these diodes compared to the choice of Schottky metal and its work function. Lastly, working with collaborators at Structured Materials Industries (SMI) Inc., heteroepitaxial films of Ga2O3 were grown on c-plane sapphire (001) using a variety of vapor phase epitaxy methods, including MOVPE, and halide vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE). The stable phase β-Ga2O3 was observed when grown using MOVPE technique, regardless of precursor flow rates, at temperatures ranging between 500 – 850 °C. With HVPE growth techniques, instead of the stable β-phase, we observed the growth of the metastable α- and ε-phases, often a combination of the two. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) shows the better lattice matched α-phase first growing semi-coherently on the c-plane sapphire substrate, followed by domain matched epitaxy of ε-Ga2O3 on top. Secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) revealed that epilayers forming the ε-phase contain higher concentrations of chlorine, which suggests that compressive stress due to Cl- impurities may play a role in the growth of ε-Ga2O3 despite it being less than thermodynamically favorable.

The emerging 2D materials are potential solutions to the scaling of electronic devices to smaller sizes with lower energy cost and faster computing speed. Unlike traditional semiconductors e.g. Si, Ge, 2D materials do not have surface dangling bonds and the short-channel effect. A wide variety of band structure is available for different functions. The aim of the thesis is to calculate the electronic structures of several important 2D materials and study their application in particular devices, using density functional theory (DFT) which provides robust results. The Schottky barrier height (SBH) is calculated for hexagonal nitrides. The SBH has a linear relationship with metal work function but the slope does not always equal because Fermi level pinning (FLP) arises. The chemical trend of FLP is investigated. Then we show that the pinning factor of Si can be tuned by inserting an oxide interlayer, which is important in the application to dopant-free Si solar cells. Apart from contact resistance, we want to improve the conductivity of the electrode. This can be done by using a physisorbed contact layer like FeCl3, AuCl3, and SbF5 etc. to dope the graphene without making the graphene pucker so these dopants do not degrade the graphene's carrier mobility. Then we consider the defect formation of 2D HfS2 and SnS2 which are candidates in the n-type part of a tunnel FET. We found that these two materials have high mobility but there are also intrinsic defects including the S vacancy, S interstitial, and Hf/Sn interstitial. Finally, we study how to make defect states chemically inactive, namely passivation. The S vacancy is the most important defect in mechanically exfoliated 2D MoS2. We found that in the most successful superacid bis(trifluoromethane) sulfonamide (TFSI) treatment, H is the passivation agent. A symmetric adsorption geometry of 3H in the -1 charge state can remove all gap states and return the Fermi level to the midgap.