High-Performance Atomic Layer Deposited Al2O3 Insulator Based Metal-Insulator-Metal Diode

The fabrication of metal–insulator– metal (MIM) diode using an ultrathin Al2O3 insulator layer, deposited using atomic layer deposition (ALD) is presented. The Al2O3 insulating layer was found to be highly uniform throughout the diode junction, effectively overcoming the main fabrication challenge in MIM diodes. The diodes exhibit strong non-linear current–voltage curves, have a typical zero-bias curvature coefficient of 5.4 V−1 and a zero-bias resistance of approximately 118 kΩ, a value considerably smaller than other MIM diode topologies and that allows more current to be rectified. Other results including current ratio and yield of the diode also competes favorably with the state-of-the-art MIM diodes such as the recently produced metal-octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS)-metal structure.