Design and Fabrication of MIM Diodes with Single and Multi-Insulator Layers

Abstract

A Metal-Insulator-Metal (MIM) diode is a device that can achieve rectification at high frequencies. The main objective of this research work is designing, fabricating, and characterizing thin film MIM diodes with single and multi-insulator layers. Cr/Al₂O₃/Cr and Pt/Al₂O₃/Al MIM diodes have been fabricated to show the impact of the materials on the current-voltage (I-V) curve. It is illustrated that the Cr/Al₂O₃/Cr MIM diode has a symmetrical I-V curve while the Pt/Al₂O₃/Al MIM diode has a very asymmetrical I-V curve. MIM diodes with single and multi-insulator layers have been fabricated to demonstrate the impact of the number of insulators on a MIM diode’s performance. It is found that by repeating two insulator layers with different electron affinities and keeping the total insulator thickness the same, the asymmetry and nonlinearity values show a significant improvement in a MIM diode. While the asymmetry of the diode with a double insulator layer (MI²M) is 3, it is 90 for the diode with a quadra insulator layer (MI⁴M), which 30 times greater than that of the MI²M diode.