Ni/Ge Schottky barriers for nanoelectronic applications

Date:

2005-2010

Theme:

Nanoelectronics

Ni has been electro-deposited on n-type Ge wafers of various substrate resistivities. The Ni-Ge Schottky barrier is characterized and found to be of very high quality for highly doped Ge (0.005-0.02 Ω-cm) with leakage currents order of magnitudes lower than those fabricated by physical vapour deposition techniques eg. evaporation or sputtering. This technique could be used for low leakage Ge based Schottky barrier MOSFETs. On the other hand, the sharp Schottky interface of Ni to highly doped Ge is crucial for spin polarised carrier injection where the currents are explained by Thermionic field emission theories. Therefore, electrodeposition of a Ferromagnetic metal (Ni) on Ge is a viable fabrication technique for spintronic applications. This technique will be used to investigate spin injection into Ge.

Primary investigator

• Kees De Groot

Secondary investigators

• mkh05r
• xl04r

Associated research groups

• Nano Research Group
• Southampton Nanofabrication Centre