Schottky Diode Leakage Current Fluctuations: Electrostatically Induced Flexoelectricity in Silicon
Nearly four decades have passed since IBM scientists pioneered atomic force microscopy (AFM) by merging the principles of a scanning tunneling microscope with the features of a stylus profilometer. Today, electrical AFM modes are an indispensable asset within the semiconductor and nanotechnology ind...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2024
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP220100553 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/95988 |
| _version_ | 1848766066623250432 |
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| author | Hurtado, C. MacGregor, M. Chen, K. Ciampi, Simone |
| author_facet | Hurtado, C. MacGregor, M. Chen, K. Ciampi, Simone |
| author_sort | Hurtado, C. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Nearly four decades have passed since IBM scientists pioneered atomic force microscopy (AFM) by merging the principles of a scanning tunneling microscope with the features of a stylus profilometer. Today, electrical AFM modes are an indispensable asset within the semiconductor and nanotechnology industries, enabling the characterization and manipulation of electrical properties at the nanoscale. However, electrical AFM measurements suffer from reproducibility issues caused, for example, by surface contaminations, Joule heating, and hard-to-minimize tip drift and tilt. Using as experimental system nanoscale Schottky diodes assembled on oxide-free silicon crystals of precisely defined surface chemistry, it is revealed that voltage-dependent adhesion forces lead to significant rotation of the AFM platinum tip. The electrostatics-driven tip rotation causes a strain gradient on the silicon surface, which induces a flexoelectric reverse bias term. This directional flexoelectric internal-bias term adds to the external (instrumental) bias, causing both an increased diode leakage as well as a shift of the diode knee voltage to larger forward biases. These findings will aid the design and characterization of silicon-based devices, especially those that are deliberately operated under large strain or shear, such as in emerging energy harvesting technologies including Schottky-based triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs). |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:45:14Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-95988 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:45:14Z |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-959882024-10-10T05:55:49Z Schottky Diode Leakage Current Fluctuations: Electrostatically Induced Flexoelectricity in Silicon Hurtado, C. MacGregor, M. Chen, K. Ciampi, Simone Schottky diodes flexoelectricity silicon surface chemistry triboelectricity Nearly four decades have passed since IBM scientists pioneered atomic force microscopy (AFM) by merging the principles of a scanning tunneling microscope with the features of a stylus profilometer. Today, electrical AFM modes are an indispensable asset within the semiconductor and nanotechnology industries, enabling the characterization and manipulation of electrical properties at the nanoscale. However, electrical AFM measurements suffer from reproducibility issues caused, for example, by surface contaminations, Joule heating, and hard-to-minimize tip drift and tilt. Using as experimental system nanoscale Schottky diodes assembled on oxide-free silicon crystals of precisely defined surface chemistry, it is revealed that voltage-dependent adhesion forces lead to significant rotation of the AFM platinum tip. The electrostatics-driven tip rotation causes a strain gradient on the silicon surface, which induces a flexoelectric reverse bias term. This directional flexoelectric internal-bias term adds to the external (instrumental) bias, causing both an increased diode leakage as well as a shift of the diode knee voltage to larger forward biases. These findings will aid the design and characterization of silicon-based devices, especially those that are deliberately operated under large strain or shear, such as in emerging energy harvesting technologies including Schottky-based triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs). 2024 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/95988 10.1002/advs.202403524 eng http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP220100553 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT190100148 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT200100301 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Schottky diodes flexoelectricity silicon surface chemistry triboelectricity Hurtado, C. MacGregor, M. Chen, K. Ciampi, Simone Schottky Diode Leakage Current Fluctuations: Electrostatically Induced Flexoelectricity in Silicon |
| title | Schottky Diode Leakage Current Fluctuations: Electrostatically Induced Flexoelectricity in Silicon |
| title_full | Schottky Diode Leakage Current Fluctuations: Electrostatically Induced Flexoelectricity in Silicon |
| title_fullStr | Schottky Diode Leakage Current Fluctuations: Electrostatically Induced Flexoelectricity in Silicon |
| title_full_unstemmed | Schottky Diode Leakage Current Fluctuations: Electrostatically Induced Flexoelectricity in Silicon |
| title_short | Schottky Diode Leakage Current Fluctuations: Electrostatically Induced Flexoelectricity in Silicon |
| title_sort | schottky diode leakage current fluctuations: electrostatically induced flexoelectricity in silicon |
| topic | Schottky diodes flexoelectricity silicon surface chemistry triboelectricity |
| url | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP220100553 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP220100553 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP220100553 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/95988 |