The characteristics of ZnS/Si heterojunction diode fabricated by thermionic vacuum arc

ZnS/p-Si heterojunction diode has been successfully fabricated by depositing the ZnS thin films on p-type Si substrates using thermionic vacuum arc technique (TVA). The structural analysis was performed with X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Atomic force microscopy (AFM). The results revealed that ZnS thin film demonstrates nano-crystalline behavior with very smooth and homogeneous surface properties. The type was determined as n-type and the carrier concentration was found approximately 3.1 × 1017 cm−3 of the ZnS thin film by means of Hall Effect measurement. The dark current-voltage (I-V) and the capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurements with different frequencies were performed to determine the characteristics of the ZnS/p-Si heterojunction diode at room temperature. I-V results show that the diode has a good rectifying characteristic with excellent rectification ratio. The electrical parameters of the diode have been obtained by using current transport mechanism. It was found that the barrier height calculated from dark I-V measurements is in good agreement with the value obtained from C-V measurements at a frequency of 1.5 MHz. The series resistance and the built in potential of the fabricated diode were calculated as 3.6 kΩ and 0.7 V using Cheung and Cheung's equation and C-V measurement, respectively. The low cost and effective film production method were utilized to fabrication of heterojunction diode and to investigate characteristics.