On the possible current transport mechanisms, Energy-dependent distribution profile of interface states, and temperature sensitivity in Au/(PEG:Er–MnFe2O4)/n–Si structures

Abstract The Au/(PEG:Er–MnFe 2 O 4 )/n–Si junctions have been constructed and their possible charge/current transport mechanisms (CTMs) investigated across temperatures ranging from 80 to 340 K and a ± 3 V bias range using the I–V measurements. The forward bias semi-logarithmic I–V curves exhibited two distinct linear regimes. The semilogarithmic I–V characteristics show that while ideality factor ( n ) declines with inclining temperature, barrier height (BH) inclines. The thermionic emission model with double Gaussian dispersion (DGD) of the BHs was able to successfully explain such temperature-dependent changes in the BH and n. Plots of Φ B0 -q/2kT, Φ B0 -n, and n −1 -q/2kT curves showed two linear-portions, indicative of a DGD. These findings suggest that the fabricated Au/(PEG:Er–MnFe 2 O 4 )/n–Si diode could serve effectively as a temperature-sensor (TS) in whole temperature range. The distribution profile of the interface traps (D it ) in the forbidden energy band was obtained from the Card&Rhoderick model by utilizing I–V data, considering the voltage-dependent Φ B (V) and n(V) values for each temperature. The observed declines with inclining temperature and shifting positions of them was attributed to the restructure/reorder of D it under the temperature effect. The obtained results suggest that the fabricated these structures are very sensitive to temperature and voltage and so can be used as a temperature application.