The energy barrier at noble metal/TiO{sub 2} junctions
- Electronic Materials Laboratory, Industrial Control Center of Excellence, Electrical Engineering Department, K. N. Toosi University of Technology, Tehran 16317-14191 (Iran, Islamic Republic of)
Nobel metal/TiO{sub 2} structures are used as catalysts in chemical reactors, active components in TiO{sub 2}-based electronic devices, and connections between such devices and the outside circuitry. Here, we investigate the energy barrier at the junctions between vacuum-deposited Ag, Au, and Pt thin films and TiO{sub 2} layers by recording their electrical current vs. voltage diagrams and spectra of optical responses. Deposited Au/, Pt/, and Ag/TiO{sub 2} behave like contacts with zero junction energy barriers, but the thermal annealing of the reverse-biased devices for an hour at 523 K in air converts them to Schottky diodes with high junction energy barriers, decreasing their reverse electric currents up to 10{sup 6} times. Similar thermal processing in vacuum or pure argon proved ineffective. The highest energy barrier and the lowest reverse current among the devices examined belong to the annealed Ag/TiO{sub 2} contacts. The observed electronic features are described based on the physicochemical parameters of the constituting materials. The formation of higher junction barriers with rutile than with anatase is demonstrated.
- OSTI ID:
- 22412722
- Journal Information:
- Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 106, Issue 8; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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