Current transport mechanism in a metal-GaN nanowire Schottky diode.

We investigated nano-Schottky diodes of gallium nitride nanowires with three Schottky metals (Cr, Ti, and Au) using current-voltage characteristics. All of the GaN nano-Schottky diodes showed a rectifying behavior. The abnormal electrical characteristics of a single GaN nanowire Schottky diode can be explained by a thermionic-field emission and an enhancement of the tunneling effects owing to both the relatively high concentration of the GaN nanowire itself and the nanoscale junction size of the GaN nanowire Schottky diodes.