Impact of percolation effect on temperature dependences of the capacitance-voltage characteristics of heterostructures based on composite layers of silicon and gold nanoparticles

The temperature dependences of the capacitance-voltage characteristics and the deep-level spectra of the Au–$n$–Si: Au–Si–$p$–Si heterostructure based on the composite layer of Au and Si nanoparticles are studied. At a temperature of 300 K, the structure exhibits the properties of a transistor connected in a circuit with a common emitter and a disconnected base and with a Schottky emitter barrier between the point contact Au and the $n$–Si: Au) layer. In this layer, nanoparticles form finite clusters, where the conductivity will be hopping, and charge accumulation is observed in the region of the Au contact. At a measurement temperature below 180 K, as a result of the percolation effect, the system moves from the phase of the final cluster to the phase of an infinite cluster exhibiting metallic properties in the lateral plane of the heterostructure, which turns into a $p$–$n$ diode.