Discover & introduction

Despite the fact that Schottky barrier diodes have many applications in today's high tech electronics
scene, it is actually one of the oldest semiconductor devices in existence. As a metal-semiconductor
devices, its applications can be traced back to before 1900 where crystal detectors, cat's whisker
detectors and the like were all effectively Schottky barrier diodes.

Circuit symbol
The Schottky circuit symbol used in many circuit schematic diagrams may be that of an ordinary
diode symbol. However it is often necessary to use a specific Schottky diode symbol to signify that a
Schottky diode rather than another one must be used because it is essential to the operation of the
circuit. Accordingly a specific Schottky diode symbol has been accepted for use. The circuit symbol
is shown below:

Schottky diode symbol

It can be seen from the circuit symbol that it is based on the normal diode one, but with additional
elements to the bar across the triangle shape.

Advantages
Schottky diodes are used in many applications where other types of diode will not perform as well.
They offer a number of advantages:

Low turn on voltage: The turn on voltage for the diode is between 0.2 and 0.3 volts for a
silicon diode against 0.6 to 0.7 volts for a standard silicon diode. This makes it have very
much the same turn on voltage as a germanium diode.

Fast recovery time: The fast recovery time because of the small amount of stored charge
means that it can be used for high speed switching applications.

Low junction capacitance: In view of the very small active area, often as a result of using
a wire point contact onto the silicon, the capacitance levels are very small.

The advantages of the Schottky diode, mean that its performance can far exceed that of other
diodes in many areas.

Applications
The Schottky barrier diodes are widely used in the electronics industry finding many uses as diode
rectifier. Its unique properties enable it to be used in a number of applications where other diodes
would not be able to provide the same level of performance. In particular it is used in areas
including:

RF mixer and detector diode:

The Schottky diode has come into its own for radio

frequency applications because of its high switching speed and high frequency capability. In
view of this Schottky barrier diodes are used in many high performance diode ring mixers. In
addition to this their low turn on voltage and high frequency capability and low capacitance
make them ideal as RF detectors.

Power rectifier:

Schottky barrier diodes are also used in high power applications, as

rectifiers. Their high current density and low forward voltage drop mean that less power is
wasted than if ordinary PN junction diodes were used. This increase in efficiency means that
less heat has to be dissipated, and smaller heat sinks may be able to be incorporated in the
design.

Power OR circuits: Schottky diodes can be used in applications where a load is driven by
two separate power supplies. One example may be a mains power supply and a battery
supply. In these instances it is necessary that the power from one supply does not enter the
other. This can be achieved using diodes. However it is important that any voltage drop
across the diodes is minimised to ensure maximum efficiency. As in many other applications,
this diode is ideal for this in view of its low forward voltage drop.
Schottky diodes tend to have a high reverse leakage current. This can lead to problems with
any sensing circuits that may be in use. Leakage paths into high impedance circuits can give
rise to false readings. This must therefore be accommodated in the circuit design.

Solar cell applications: Solar cells are typically connected to rechargeable batteries, often
lead acid batteries because power may be required 24 hours a day and the Sun is not

always available. Solar cells do not like the reverse charge applied and therefore a diode is
required in series with the solar cells. Any voltage drop will result in a reduction in efficiency
and therefore a low voltage drop diode is needed. As in other applications, the low voltage
drop of the Schottky diode is particularly useful, and as a result they are the favoured form of
diode in this application.

Clamp diode - especially with its use in LS TTL: Schottky barrier diodes may also be
used as a clamp diode in a transistor circuit to speed the operation when used as a switch.
They were used in this role in the 74LS (low power Schottky) and 74S (Schottky) families of
logic circuits. In these chips the diodes are inserted between the collector and base of the
driver transistor to act as a clamp. To produce a low or logic "0" output the transistor is driven
hard on, and in this situation the base collector junction in the diode is forward biased. When
the Schottky diode is present this takes most of the current and allows the turn off time of the
transistor to be greatly reduced, thereby improving the speed of the circuit.

An NPN transistor with Schottky diode clamp

In view of its properties, the Schottky diode finds uses in applications right through from power
rectification to uses in clamp diodes in high speed logic devices and then on to high frequency RF
applications as signal rectifiers and in mixers.
Their properties span many different types of circuit making them almost unique in the variety of
areas and circuits in which they can be used.

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id=tisR3uZr1IgC&pg=PA161&lpg=PA161&dq=schottky+barrier+diode+construction&source=bl&ots=
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Definition

of

Schottky

Diode

A Schottky barrier diode is a metal semiconductor junction

formed by bringing metal in contact with a moderately
doped n type semiconductor material. A Schottky barrier
diode is also called as known as Schottky or hot carrier
diode. It is named after its inventor Walter H. Schottky,
barrier stands for the potential energy barrier for electrons
at the junction. It is a unilateral device conducting
currents in one direction (Conventional current flow from
metal to semiconductor) and restricting in the other.
History

of

Schottky

diode

The cats-whisker detector (sometimes called a crystal

detector) is an earliest known point contact Schottky
diode. It is an electronic component consisting of a
thin wire that
lightly
touches
a
crystal
of semiconducting mineral (usually galena) to make a
crude point-contact rectifier. It was developed by
J.C.Bose, G.W.Pickard around 1906 and was used in
power applications and wireless.
Physical construction
A Schottky barrier diode is shown in the figure below

Schottky diode physical structure

A metal semiconductor junction is formed at one end, it is

a unilateral junction. Another metal semiconductor
contact is formed at the other end. It is an ideal Ohmic
bilateral contact with no potential existing between metal
and semiconductor and is non rectifying. The built-in
potential across the open circuited Schottky barrier
diode characterizes the Schottky barrier diode. It is a
function of temperature and doping. It decreases with
increasing temperature and doping concentration in N
type semiconductor. The typical metals used in the
manufacture of Schottky barrier diode are molybdenum,
platinum, chromium, tungsten Aluminium, gold e.t.c and
the semiconductor used is N type silicon is used.
Symbol
of
Schottky
Diode

Schottky diode symbol

A Schottky barrier diode is a two terminal device with

metal terminal acting as anode and semiconductor
terminal acting as anode. The circuit symbol of Schottky
barrier
diode
is
shown
in
the
figure.
VI characteristics of Schottky barrier diode
The VI characteristics of Schottky barrier diode is shown
below

schottky curve for varying barrier

Schottky diode v/s normal diode VI characteristics

From the VI characteristics it is obvious that the VI

characteristics of Schottky barrier diode is similar to
normal PN junction diode with the following exceptions
The forward voltage drop of Schottky barrier diode is low
compared to normal PN junction diode. The forward
voltage drop of Schottky barrier diode made of silicon
exhibits a forward voltage drop of 0.3 volts to o.5 volts.
The forward voltage drop increases with the increasing
doping concentration of n type semiconductor.

The VI characteristics of Schottky barrier diode is Steeper

compared to VI characteristics of normal PN junction
diode due to high concentration of current carriers.
Current components in Schottky diode
In a Schottky barrier diode current conduction is through
majority carriers which are electrons in N type
semiconductor. The current in Schottky barrier diode
current is
I =I
T

+I

Diffusion

Tunneling

+I

Thermionic emission

Where I is diffusion current due to concentration

gradient and Diffusion current density J = D *q*
dn/dx for electrons, where D is
the
diffusion constant for electrons, q is electronic
charge =
1.6*10 Coulombs, dn/dx
is
the
concentration gradient for electrons.
I is
the tunneling current
due
to
quantum
mechanical tunneling through the barrier. This current is
directly proportional to the probability of tunneling. The
probability of tunneling increases with the decreasing barrier
or built in potential and decreasing depletion layer width.
I
is current due to thermionic emission. Due to
thermal agitation some of carriers which have energy
equal to or larger than the conduction band energy at the
metal-semiconductor interface, contribute to the current
flow. This is termed as thermionic emission current.
Since the current conduction through Schottky barrier
diode is through majority charge carriers only, it does not
exhibit minority carrier storage effects found in normal PN
junction diode. Hence it is suitable for high-speed
switching applications because the forward voltage is low
and the reverse recovery time is short. The reverse
Diffusion

-19

Tunneling

Thermionic

emission

recovery time is solely dependent on junction capacitance

which will be of the order of Pico farads.
Applications of Schottky Barrier diode

Schottky barrier diodes are used in bipolar transistor

TTL
based 74LS
(low
power
Schottky) and74S (Schottky) families of logic circuits .
The Schottky diode by preventing the BJT going into
hard saturation reduces the switching time of BJT
from saturation to cut off.

Schottky diodes are often used as ant saturation

clamps on transistors.

They play an important role in GaAs circuits.

They are used as rectifiers in high power applications

circuits.

Schottky Barrier Diodes are used in voltage clamping

applications.

Schottky Barrier Diodes are used in stand-alone photo

voltaic systems

They are used in radio frequency applications as

mixer (or) detector diode.