Using Highly Functional Cr₂O₃ Interfacial Layer to Enhance the Electrical Performance of Au/InP Schottky Diodes

Abstract Herein, the significant impact of the spin‐coated Cr 2 O 3 interface layer on the electrical properties and performance characteristics of Au/undoped‐InP (Au/InP) Schottky diodes (SD) is reported. The material characterization of spin‐coated Cr 2 O 3 films using a wide variety of analytical techniques, namely, atomic force microscopy, field emission scanning electron microscope, X‐ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy, indicate the formation of hexagonal phase, nanocrystalline, and stoichiometric Cr 2 O 3 on InP. Optical absorption measurements reveal a bandgap of ≈3.5 eV. In‐depth analyses and detailed measurements of current‐voltage ( I – V ) and capacitance‐voltage (C‐V) employed to assess the interface characteristics and electrical performance of the Au/InP (SD) versus Au/Cr 2 O 3 /InP (MIS) devices. Compared to SD, MIS revealed superior rectifying properties. Indicating that the Cr 2 O 3 interface layer significantly influences the barrier height (Φ BH ) of SD, the estimated Φ BH (0.64 eV ( I – V )/0.86 eV (C‐V)) is higher than that of SD (0.57 eV ( I – V )/0.67 eV (C‐V)). In addition, Cheungs and Nordes' methods are used to obtain the Φ BH , ideality factor (n), and series resistance (R S ). The equivalent Φ BH values obtained from current–voltage, Cheungs, and Nordes methods demonstrate stability and dependability in addition to validating their superior characteristics of MIS devices. The interface state density (N SS ) for MIS is lower than the SD's, indicating that the effectiveness of Cr 2 O 3 layer significantly reduces N SS . Analyses to probe the mechanism demonstrate that, in SD and MIS, the Schottky emission controls the higher bias area, while the Poole‐Frenkel emission dominates the reverse conduction mechanism at the lower bias region. The present work convincingly demonstrates the potential application of the Cr 2 O 3 interfacial layer in delivering the enhanced performance and contributes to the progression of electrical devices for emerging electronics and energy‐related applications.