Amorphous multi-component metals as electrode materials

The objective of this thesis is to provide an initial demonstration of two-terminal and three-terminal electronic devices employing amorphous multi-component metallic film (AMMF) electrodes. Such a demonstration is successfully achieved in the fabrication of metal-insulator-metal (MIM) diode and hot electron transistor (HETs) structures employing ZrCuAlNi AMMF electrodes. The ultra-smooth surface morphology resulting from the Zr-CuAlNi film's amorphous nature is investigated via atomic force microscopy, x-ray diffraction, and electron diffraction. The work function characteristics of a ZrCuAlNi AMMF are investigated using Kelvin-probe analysis. Resistivity of the ZrCuAlNi AMMFs is characterized using four-point probe measurements. The resistances of patterned ZrCuAlNi AMMF electrodes are measured to provide insight into electrode resistance variability caused by film and contact processing. Electrical measurements of two-terminal MIM diodes, employing at least one ZrCuAlNi AMMF electrode and a variety of dielectrics, are undertaken in order to study the effects of tunneling potential barrier height, dielectric thickness, and dielectric constant on MIM diode current-voltage characteristics. Energy band analysis, electrical characterization, and mathematical simulations elucidate the feasibility of MIM diodes fabricated with ZrCuAlNi AMMF electrodes. A three-terminal HET structure employing ZrCuAlNi AMMF electrodes is electrically characterized, after which an energy band analysis is undertaken to provide insight into observed current-voltage characteristics. The maximum frequency of operation, f[subscript max], is calculated for a HET employing ZrCuAlNi electrodes.