Nano-crystalline p-ZnGa2Te4/n-Si as a new heterojunction diode

Abstract

In this communication, ZnGa2Te4 thin film was prepared by thermal evaporation technique on n-Si substrate. P-ZnGa2Te4/n-Si heterojunction diode was fabricated. The structure of ZnGa2Te4 thin film was checked by XRD pattern and confirmed by AFM micrographs. The dark current voltage characteristics of the heterojunction diode were investigated to determine the electrical parameters and conduction mechanism as a function of forward and reverse biasing conditions in the range (-10 V to 10 V) at temperature interval (303-423 K). The conduction mechanism was controlled by thermionic emission, space charge limited (SCLC) and trap-charge limited current (TCLC) mechanisms. The basic parameters such as the series resistance R-s, the shunt resistance R-sh, the ideality factor n and the barrier height phi(b) of the diode, the total density of trap states N-0 and the exponential trapping distribution P-0 were determined. The obtained results showed that ZnCa2Te4 is a good candidate for the applications of electronic devices. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.