Abstract We report on the effect of the surface roughness of Pd nanostructures on the electrical characteristics (Schottky barrier height) of Pd nanostructures/SiC nano-contacts as probed by conductive atomic force microscopy. We produced Pd nanostructures on 6H-SiC surface by thermal-induced dewetting of a nanoscale-thick deposited Pd film. We changed the Pd nanostructures mean diameter and mean surface roughness by controlling the annealing temperature. Scanning Electron Microscopy and Atomic Force Microscopy allowed us to quantify and in various annealing conditions. In addition, current–voltage characteristics were acquired on single Pd nanostructure/SiC contacts by placing the tip of Conductive Atomic Force Microscopy on the Pd nanostructure. Typical rectifying Schottky characteristics were recorded from which the Schottky barrier heights ΦB were extracted. For ballistic Pd nanostructures ( ≈25 nm), ΦB was found to increase by increasing the nanostructures surface roughness above a critical value. For non-ballistic Pd nanostructures ( in the range 150–200 nm), no effect of the surface roughness was observed on ΦB. Regarding the ballistic Pd/SiC contact, the observed phenomenon is ascribed to the conducting electrons surface scattering relaxation mechanism and the surface roughness scattering mean free path for electrons is evaluated in the range 1.5–3.5 nm.

中文翻译：

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表面粗糙度对 Pd/SiC 纳米接触电特性的影响

摘要 我们报告了通过导电原子力显微镜探测的 Pd 纳米结构的表面粗糙度对 Pd 纳米结构/SiC 纳米触点的电特性（肖特基势垒高度）的影响。我们通过纳米级厚沉积 Pd 膜的热诱导去湿在 6H-SiC 表面上生产了 Pd 纳米结构。我们通过控制退火温度来改变 Pd 纳米结构的平均直径和平均表面粗糙度。扫描电子显微镜和原子力显微镜使我们能够在各种退火条件下进行量化。此外，通过将导电原子力显微镜的尖端放置在 Pd 纳米结构上，在单个 Pd 纳米结构/SiC 触点上获得电流-电压特性。记录典型的整流肖特基特性，从中提取肖特基势垒高度 ΦB。对于弹道 Pd 纳米结构 (≈25 nm)，发现 ΦB 通过将纳米结构表面粗糙度增加到临界值以上而增加。对于非弹道 Pd 纳米结构（在 150-200 nm 范围内），未观察到表面粗糙度对 ΦB 的影响。关于弹道 Pd/SiC 接触，观察到的现象归因于导电电子表面散射弛豫机制，并且电子的表面粗糙度散射平均自由程在 1.5-3.5 nm 范围内评估。没有观察到表面粗糙度对 ΦB 的影响。关于弹道 Pd/SiC 接触，观察到的现象归因于导电电子表面散射弛豫机制，并且电子的表面粗糙度散射平均自由程在 1.5-3.5 nm 范围内评估。没有观察到表面粗糙度对 ΦB 的影响。关于弹道 Pd/SiC 接触，观察到的现象归因于导电电子表面散射弛豫机制，并且电子的表面粗糙度散射平均自由程在 1.5-3.5 nm 范围内评估。