Abstract
The noise properties of Pt/p-Si1-xGex and PtSi/p-Si1-xGex (x = 0.14) Schottky contacts have been studied. The silicide layer PtSi was formed by thermal reaction (TR) of Pt with a silicon substrate and by co-sputtering (CS) of Pt and Si onto the strained Si1-xGex layer. The noise measurements were performed at temperature T = 77 K over the frequency range 10-10(4) Hz, Higher noise level was observed in the annealed diode Pt/p-Si1-xGex. In both diodes, the noise was found to exhibit l/f behaviour and was attributed to fluctuations of the generation-recombination current at the interface states. The results reveal significant reductions in the total noise by 70%, and the interface state density Ni, by three orders of magnitude when the silicide is formed by the CS process.