Interdigit 4H-SiC Vertical Schottky Diode for Betavoltaic Applications

Author

Sciuto, Antonella ; D´Arrigo, G. ; Roccaforte, F. ; Mazzillo, M. ; Spinella, R.C. ; Raineri, V.

Author_Institution

Inst. for Microelectron. & Microsyst., Nat. Council of Res., Catania, Italy

Volume

58

Issue

3

fYear

2011

fDate

3/1/2011 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

593

Lastpage

599

Abstract

We demonstrated a 4H-SiC vertical Schottky diode for betavoltaic application using interdigit front metallization. A relevant increase in the betavoltaic short-circuit current with respect to a device with a continuous standard front electrode was achieved with this novel layout allowing to collect also low-energy electrons. In particular, by irradiating the device with a monochromatic electron beam (e-beam) of 17 keV, an internal gain that is 1.4 times higher than in conventional devices was obtained. An open-circuit voltage of ~1 V was obtained for an illumination e-beam current density of 10^-8 A/cm².

Keywords

Schottky diodes; current density; electron beams; metallisation; short-circuit currents; silicon compounds; wide band gap semiconductors; 4H-SiC vertical Schottky diode; SiC; betavoltaic applications; betavoltaic short-circuit current; electron volt energy 17 keV; illumination e-beam current density; interdigit front metallization; low-energy electrons; monochromatic electron beam irradiation; 4H-SiC; Betavoltaic; electron-beam-induced current (EBIC);

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Electron Devices, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9383

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TED.2010.2094622

Filename

5678638