Fabrication and modelling of MInM diodes with low turn-on voltage

Abstract Multi-stack metal–insulator-metal (MIM) diodes of ultra-thin Ta2O5/Al2O3 dielectrics are investigated by experiment and modelling. Tunnelling transport is modelled using transfer matrix (TMM) and Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin (WKB) methods. Rectification for a triple dielectric layer device is shown to occur at a turn-on voltage (VON) as low as 170 mV with a non-linearity of 3 and an asymmetry increasing from 2.2 at the VON to over two orders of magnitude at 1 V.