Increase in barrier height of Al/n-GaAs contacts induced by high current

High forward-gate current (HFGC) density induces an increase of the Al/n-GaAs barrier height from 0.8 to 0.96 eV, thus suggesting the formation of an GaxAl1-xAs layer at the interface. Results show that this interaction is more enhanced by the electron current from the semiconductor to the metal than by thermal treatments. The intense electron flow is believed to contribute to the breaking of the interfacial oxide layer present at the metal-semiconductor interface, thus promoting Al/GaAs interdiffusion. Data were obtained on power MESFET's with Al metallized gate.