Electrical properties of strained Si p-n junctions

p-n junctions are of great importance for both modern Si complementary metal oxide semiconductors (CMOS) devices and other semiconductor devices. In this study, we experimentally examined the strain induced modification of the current-voltage characteristics of Si p-n junctions. The strain was applied to the forward biased p⁺-n and n⁺-p junctions though a wafer bending method. It is observed that, under the uniaxial tensile stress, the ideality factor in the diffusion current region of a forward p-n junction decreases with the increase in the applied stress. Meanwhile, the junction current increases with the increase in the applied stress. It is also found that the applied uniaxial tensile stress causes a significant junction-current increase in the large forward biases region and a relative small current increase in the diffusion current region.