Temperature dependent electrical properties of pulse laser deposited Au/Ni/β-(AlGa)2O3 Schottky diode

We have demonstrated the epitaxial growth of a β-(Al0.08Ga0.92)2O3 film on a β-Ga2O3 (010) substrate through pulsed laser deposition. The temperature-dependent electrical characteristics of Au/Ni/β-(Al0.08Ga0.92)2O3 Schottky diodes were investigated in the temperature range of 300–573 K, using thermionic emission theory to calculate the Schottky diode parameters. The barrier height ϕb was found to increase, while the ideality factor n and the series resistance Rs were found to decrease with increasing temperatures. The calculated values of ϕb and n varied from 0.81 eV and 2.29 at 300 K to 1.02 eV and 1.65 at 573 K. The temperature-dependent I-V characteristics of the Schottky diode have shown the Gaussian distribution, yielding a mean barrier height of 1.23 eV and a standard deviation of 0.147 V, respectively. A modified Richardson plot of ln(Is/T2)−(q2σs2/2k2T2) versus q/2kT gives ϕb0¯ and A* as 1.24 eV and 44.3 A cm−2 K−2, showing the promise of Ni/β-(AlGa)2O3 as a Schottky diode rectifier.