Features of the current-voltage characteristic of the Ti–Si@O@Al junction Ti–Si@O@Al

The results on measuring the I–V characteristics of the metal-semiconductor transition within the Ti (200 nm)–Si@O@Al (180 nm)–Ti (203 nm) test structure are presented. The basis of the Si@O@Al nanocomposite is a solid solution of Al in amorphous silicon $a$-Si(Al). The I–V of the test structure has a form characteristic of a reverse-biased ohmic contact between a metal and a $p$-type semiconductor, which implies that $a$-Si(Al) is a substitutional solid solution. It is shown that the I–V fits well the framework of the metal–semiconductor transition model and the varistor effect of the nanocomposite. Within the framework of the percolation model, it is shown that the I–V give values of the Si@O@Al resistivity, which are overestimated with respect to the resistance of the $a$-Si(Al) solid solution.