Argon-ion bombardment effects on the electrical characteristics of platinum-silicon Schottky diodes

Before barrier metal evaporation, silicon Schottky diodes were cleaned by argon-ion bombardment. Some device series were evaporated just after the ion cleaning, whereas others were annealed beforehand. The electrical characteristics of the different series were checked by means of standard I/V and C/V measurements. Whereas the ideality coefficient and the barrier height obtained from I/V characteristics showed nearly complete recovery after heat treatment for 1 h at 700°C, the barrier height from C/V measurements did not recover.