ELECTRICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF SIO2 CRYSTALLINE SI QUANTUM DOTS/SIO2 DOUBLE-BARRIER DIODE/

We report the fabrication, structure characteristics and vertical tran sport properties of SiO2/crystalline Si quantum dots/SiO2 double-barri er diodes in this paper. a-Si:H films of 20 nn thick were deposited us ing a high hydrogen dilution silane plasma enhanced chemical vapor dep osition system; then the films are thermally crystallized and simultan eously oxidized. Cross-section and high resolution transmission electr on microscopy photographs indicate the formation of SiO2 barrier layer s and crystalline Si quantum dots structures. The vertical electrical characteristics of these diodes exhibit a series of unique conductance maxima at room temperature. The real voltage spacing between adjacent maxima (similar to 1 V) is in good agreement with the calculated resu lts based on the model of Coulomb blockade effect. (C) 1998 Elsevier S cience B.V. All rights reserved.