Fabrication and properties of low-temperature (⩽600 °C) processed n-type nanocrystalline SiC/p-type crystalline Si heterojunction diodes

Silicon carbide layers were grown on Si at 600 °C by magnetron sputtering in a pure hydrogen plasma. The transmission-electron-microscopic observations reveal a high crystallization degree and the formation of SiC nanocrystals of ∼5 nm average size. The nanocrystalline SiC was used to fabricate SiC/Si heterojunction diodes which show good performance with a rectification ratio of ∼104 at ±2 V and low leakage current. The behavior of this latter with temperature suggests that it is due to thermal emissions amplified by a Poole–Frenkel effect.