The Synthesis of the Fe₃O₄ Nanoparticles and the Analysis of the Current–Voltage Measurements on Au/Fe₃O₄/p-Si Schottky Contacts in a Wide Temperature Range

The iron oxide (Fe₃O₄) magnetic nanoparticles were synthesized via the organic solution phase method and used for the fabrication of the Au/Fe₃O₄/p-Si rectifying device. The variation in electrical characteristics of the Au/Fe₃O₄/p-Si Schottky contacts was investigated as a function of temperature using current–voltage (I–V) measurements in the temperature range of 40 K to 370 K (−233 °C to 97 °C). The I–V characteristics of the contacts indicated extremely strong temperature dependence. The double distribution of barrier heights was found in the Fe₃O₄/p-Si Schottky diodes from the I–V-T measurements. The Schottky barrier height (Φ_b) increases with the increasing temperature, while the ideality factor n decreases. The nonlinearity in the activation energy plot was observed, which is attributed to barrier inhomogeneities by assuming a Gaussian distribution of barrier heights at the Fe₃O₄/p-Si interface. The Richardson constant measured from the temperature-dependent I–V characteristics is 2.99 A/K² cm², which is lower than the ideal value.