New method for the determination of the surface barrier heights in MIS tunnel diodes (solar cells)

The methods commonly applied for the determination of the surface barrier heights of Schottky diodes are usually extended for the MIS tunnel structures characterization, although, in such cases both, their range of application and accuracy are often strongly reduced. In this paper a new photoelectric method for the determination of the surface barrier heights in MIS tunnel diode is proposed together with experimental results supporting its validity. The presence of the ultra-thin oxide layer between the metal and semiconductor does not reduce method's applicability as long as the direct semiconductor-metal tunneling is dominant current flow mechanism through the oxide layer. In the contrary to the previous methods it allow us to measure directly the barrier height for minority carriers, and therefore, is especially recommended for minority carrier dievices.