A BEEM study of the temperature dependence of the barrier height distribution in PtSi/n-Si Schottky diodes

Schottky barrier height distributions of a PtSi film on n-Si(100) are directly measured by ballistic electron emission spectroscopy at temperatures ranging from 180 to 300 K. At any temperature, the measured barrier height distribution can be fitted by a Gaussian function quite well. The mean barrier height decreases with increasing temperature almost linearly with a coefficient of (-2.6 +/- 0.2) x 10(-4) eV/K, which is approximately equal to the temperature dependence of the energy band gap of Si, thus suggesting that the Fermi level at the interface is pinned to the valence band edge. The width of the Gaussian barrier distribution is 32 +/- 4 meV, without clear dependence on temperature. The results are consistent with the values obtained from traditional C-V measurements. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.