Electronic conduction properties of Au/C ₆₀/p-Si and C ₆₀/Au/p-Si sandwich structures: I-V and transducer characteristics

Gold-fullerite [C ₆₀]-silicon (p-type) sandwich structures have been fabricated in order to investigate intrinsic cross-sectional and planar electronic conductive properties, in particular the C ₆₀/p-Si p-n heterojunction. The turn-on voltage of this p-n heterojunction lies in the range 0.25-0.27 V. The I-V characteristics of the Au/C ₆₀/p-Si structure are mostly defined by the bulk specific resistance of the fullerite crystal film itself (∼6×10 ⁷Ωcm). I-V curves in the C ₆₀/Au/p-Si structure are shown to be ohmic. Au/C ₆₀/p-Si sandwiches irradiated with swift (300MeV) heavy ions, ( ⁸⁴Kr ¹⁴⁺) to a total fluence ∼10 ¹⁰ion/cm ² yield structures which are sensitive to ambient air pressure, specifically in the case of a transverse contact configuration, and if one of the contacts is located on the irradiated part of the fullerite film. The sandwich-structure sensitivity to pressure is ∼5×10 ^-6Pa ^-1. This exceeds the sensitivity of conventional silicon pressure transducers by almost three orders of magnitude.