Electrical Characterization of Nanoscale $Au/TiO_2$ Schottky Diodes Probed with Conductive Atomic Force Microscopy

The electrical characterization of Au islands on TiO2 at nanometer scale (as a Schottky nanodiode) has been studied with conductive atomic force microscopy in ultra-high vacuum. The diverse sizes of the Au islands were formed by using self-assembled patterns on n-type TiO2 semiconductor film using the Langmuir-Blodgett process. Local conductance images showing the current flowing through the TiN coated AFM probe to the surface of the Au islands on TiO2 was simultaneously obtained with topography, while a positive sample bias is applied. The boundary of the Au islands revealed a higher current flow than that of the inner Au islands in current AFM images, with the forward bias presumably due to the surface plasmon resonance. The nanoscale Schottky barrier height of the Au/TiO2 Schottky nanodiode was obtained by fitting the I-V curve to the thermionic emission equation. The local resistance of the Au/TiO2 nanodiode appeared to be higher at the larger Au islands than at the smaller islands. The results suggest that conductive atomic force microscopy can be used to reveal the I-V characterization of metal size dependence and the electrical effects of surface plasmon on a metal-semiconductor Schottky diode at nanometer scale.