Current–voltage–temperature characteristics and magnetic response of Co/n-CuO/p-Si/Al heterojunction diode

• Polycrystalline CuO films are obtained on p-Si by oxidation of Cu film prepared by liquid phase epitaxy technique.
• Co/n-CuO/p-Si/Al heterojunction shows rectification behavior and magnetic response.
• The device is controlled by interfacial states and series resistance.

Cupric oxide (CuO) films with n-type conductivity and polycrystalline structure were successfully synthesized onto p-Si substrates by simple thermal oxidation of copper films prepared by liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) technique. Scanning electron microscope showed that the films consist of spherical particles with a diameter in the range of 0.5–0.67 µm. The dark current-voltage characteristics of Co/n-CuO/p-Si/Al diode were investigated in temperature range 300–390 K. The ideality factor and barrier height were determined in terms of thermionic emission theory. Norde's function was used for determining the barrier height and series resistance. At relatively higher applied voltage, space charge limited current dominated by exponential trap of distribution is the operating conduction mechanism. The Co/CuO/p-Si multilayers showed ferromagnetic response in which the coercivity and saturation magnetization are evaluated.