Electronic properties of junctions between silicon and organic conducting polymers

Abstract

Diodes formed from semiconductor/metal interfaces often display non-ideal electronic properties. For instance, silicon/metal (Schottky) diodes made from n-type silicon and a variety of contacting metals exhibit only small differences in their rectification properties, despite theoretical and practical expectations that changes in the metal should effect changes in device properties. Similarly, Schottky diodes formed on p-type silicon generally exhibit ohmic behaviour with poor rectification characteristics. This lack of electrical response to changes in the properties of the contacting metal phase is generally attributed to interfacial reactions that take place during the high-temperature thermal or electron-beam deposition of metals onto silicon. Here we describe the fabrication of diodes using a low-temperature chemical procedure, in which contact to the semiconductor is made by a layer of the conducting organic polymer, polyacetylene. Unlike conventional metals, the electrical properties of polyacetylene can be manipulated through choice of the polymer dopant. The resultant organic/inorganic interfaces behave more ideally than contacts with conventional metals, in that changes in the electrical properties of the conducting polymer exert a large and predictable effect on the electrical properties of the resulting semiconductor/polymer diodes.

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