Characterization of interface states at Au/InSb/InP(100) Schottky barrier diodes as a function of frequency

The purpose of this paper is to characterize interface states in Au/InSb/InP(1 0 0) Schottky-type diodes and determine the effect of InSb surface preparation on the energy density distribution and relaxation time of the interface state. In the latter diode, InSb forms a fine restructuration layer allowing to block In atoms migration to surface. We have proceeded as follows. first, a great amount of antimony has been evaporated and, as a second step, the excess antimony is removed by heating the substrate at 300 degrees C. The characteristic parameters of the interface states are derived from the capacitance-voltage C(V-G), conductance-voltage G(V-G) measured as a function of frequency and current-voltage I(V-G) under forward biases. The mean density of interface states N-ss estimated was 3.05 x 10(12) eV(-1) cm(-2), the interface states were responsible for the non-ideal behavior of the I(V-G) characteristics of the diodes. The relaxation times are independent of the bias and varies with N-ss in the range 7.1 x 10(-4) s and 3.7 x 10(-3) s. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.