Interface trap characterization and electrical properties of Au-ZnO nanorod Schottky diodes by conductance and capacitance methods

Schottky diodes with Au/ZnO nanorod (NR)/n-SiC configurations have been fabricated and their interface traps and electrical properties have been investigated by current-voltage (I-V), capacitance-voltage (C-V), capacitance-frequency (C-f), and conductance-frequency (G(p)/omega-omega) measurements. Detailed and systematic analysis of the frequency-dependent capacitance and conductance measurements was performed to extract the information about the interface trap states. The discrepancy between the high barrier height values obtained from the I-V and the C-V measurements was also analyzed. The higher capacitance at low frequencies was attributed to excess capacitance as a result of interface states in equilibrium in the ZnO that can follow the alternating current signal. The energy of the interface states (E-ss) with respect to the valence band at the ZnO NR surface was also calculated. The densities of interface states obtained from the conductance and capacitance methods agreed well with each other and this confirm that the observed capacitance and conductance are caused by the same physical processes, i.e., recombination-generation in the interface states. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics