Schottky diode performance of an Au/Pd/GaAs device fabricated by deposition of monodisperse palladium nanoparticles over a p-type GaAs substrate

Au/Pd/p-GaAs Schottky diodes were fabricated by simple assembly of monodisperse Pd nanoparticles on a p-type GaAs semiconductor. Monodisperse 5-nm Pd nanoparticles were synthesized via reduction of palladium(II) acetylacetonate in oleylamine using a borane tert-butylamine complex. The Au/Pd/p-GaAs Schottky diodes provided a barrier height of 0.68 eV, which is higher than room-temperature values reported in the literature. A double distribution was observed for the barrier height for the Schottky diodes from I–V–T measurements. A decrease in temperature lowered the zero-bias barrier height and increased the ideality factor. These observations were ascribed to barrier height inhomogeneities at the interface that altered the barrier height distribution. Values of the series resistance obtained by the Norde method decreased with increasing temperature. Understanding the temperature dependence of the current–voltage characteristics of Au/Pd/p-GaAs devices might be helpful in improving the quality of Pd deposited on GaAs for future device technologies.