Recovery of Electrical Characteristics of Au/n-Si Schottky Junction Under ${}^{60}\hbox{Co}$ Gamma Irradiation

The electrical transport characteristics of a Au/n-Si metal–semiconductor Schottky barrier junction under exposure to ${}^{60}\hbox{Co}$ gamma rays have been reported in this paper. The role of energy loss mechanisms in the Schottky junction due to gamma irradiation is studied using the current–voltage $(I {-} V)$ and capacitance–voltage $(C {-} V)$ measurements. The electrical characteristics were measured at various doses of gamma by incrementally increasing the exposure from 0.85 Mrad (Si) to 340 Mrad (Si) to systematically study the dose effects on electrical transport across the Schottky interface. After irradiation, the ideality factor was found to decrease initially up to a dose of 17 Mrad (Si), and thereafter, it started increasing. At a dose of 340 Mrad (Si), the characteristics of the Schottky interface were found to recover toward the pristine characteristics. The recovery effect is attributed to annealing of interface defects due to the electronic energy loss $S_{e}$ of gamma ray photons.