Schottky Barrier Characteristic Analysis on 4H-SiC Schottky Barrier Diodes With Heavy Ion-Induced Degradation.

Leakage current of 1200-V 4H-SiC Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) with different structures increased by various degrees after heavy-ion exposure. By taking ${I}$ – ${V}$ measurements in a range of 298 to 448 K, the voltage dependence of saturation current ($I_{0}$), barrier height ($\phi _{B0}$), and ideality factor ($n$) were obtained. The dependence of these parameters with temperature illustrates the Gaussian distribution of barrier height. The inhomogeneity of the Schottky barrier height (SBH) distribution was successfully described using a modified thermionic emission (TE) model with Gaussian distribution, and the average barrier height ($\bar {\phi }_{B0}$) was gained. The results show that the barrier height distribution of all SBDs remain unchanged after the irradiation which means heavy-ion exposure did not affect the Schottky barrier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]