Temperature-dependent electrical characteristics of ag schottky contacts to differently grown o-polar bulk zno

Abstract

The temperature-dependent electrical properties of Ag Schottky contacts to differently grown O-polar bulk ZnO single crystals were comparatively investigated in the temperature range of 100-300 K. Schottky contact to hydrothermal ZnO produced the higher barrier heights (lower ideality factors) than that of pressurized melt-grown ZnO. The modified Richardson plots for two samples produced the larger Richardson constant compared to the theoretical value of 32 A cm-2K-2 for n-type ZnO, indicating that the inhomogeneous barrier height with the thermionic emission (TE) model could not explain the current transport. The conductive accumulation layers on the ZnO surfaces might not be removed effectively for two samples, which degraded the rectifying characteristics. The different electron transport characteristics between hydrothermal and pressurized meltgrown ZnO could be explained by the different degree of Ag-O formation at the interface. © VC 2013 by ASME.