Effect of deposition process on the thin-film ZnS/p-Si interface

Thin films of ZnS have been deposited on p-Si by evaporation, radio-frequency sputtering, and magnetron sputtering to form metal-insulator-semiconductor structures. The 1 MHz admittance-voltage characteristics of each have been compared for a qualitative study of the ZnS/p-Si interface. It is shown that radio-frequency sputtering results in Fermi-level pinning, which is ascribed to the presence of silicon dangling bonds caused by radiation damage. It is argued that this damage is advantageous for ZnS/p-Si electroluminescent diodes.