On the ohmicity of Schottky contacts

The conditions under which Schottky contacts become ohmic are analyzed. Proceeding from classical concepts of the mechanisms of current flow, a generalized Schottky contact model is investigated. This model takes into account the thermionic current of majority charge carriers and the recombination current of minority carriers in Schottky contacts with a dielectric gap. Based on an analysis of the predictions of this model, ohmicity criteria are obtained for Schottky contacts and the conditions for a low injection level and the ohmicity of Si-based Schottky contacts are compared. It is shown that the conditions for Schottky-contact ohmicity do not coincide with those for p–n junctions.