A model of the intimate metal-semiconductor Schottky-barrier contact

On the basis of numerical analysis, a model of the intimate metal-semiconductor Schottky-barrier (SB) contact is proposed. According to this model, the Fermi-level pinning at the contact is due to high density of electron surface states in equilibrium with the metal, whereas the IV characteristic distortions (deviation from ideality) are due to a continuous (and/or discrete) spectrum of the energy-and coordinate distributed (in the general case) near-surface states in equilibrium with the semiconductor. This model amplifies the Bardeen model for actual SB contacts that is limited by the assumption of the presence of an intermediate insulating layer. However, the assumption is not necessarily fulfilled for the contacts manufactured using currently available technologies. © 2005 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.