Dependence of the Schottky barrier on the work function at metal/SiON/SiC(0001) interfaces identified by first-principles calculations

We report investigations based on density functional theory that clarify the dependence of the Schottky barrier height (SBH) on the work function of metals at metal/SiON interfaces formed on the 6H-SiC(0001) surface. We have found that the density of atoms in the Al layer affects neither its work function nor the SBH formed when the layer contacts with the SiON surface. More importantly, the SBH for the B overlayer is lower compared with that for the Al layer, reflecting a difference in the work function of the layers. The present result clearly indicates that Fermi-level pinning does not occur for SiON on SiC(0001), which means that the SBH is controllable for metal/SiON/SiC systems by changing the work function of metals.