The Effect of Chemical Reactivity and Charge Transfer on GaAs (110) Schottky Barrier Formation

The study of the metal-semiconductor contact, i.e., the Schottky barrier (SB) is an endeavor that has spanned several decades[1-4]. The interest in such systems has been maintained because of their immense practical importance to semiconductor device technology. As device sizes continue to shrink and packing densities correspondingly increase, the notion of isolated devices in integrated circuits becomes nonsensical. Apart from having to address the obvious electrical effects the problems associated with chemistry in this emerging technology is also important. As a result, a thorough understanding of the chemistry and physics involved in this formation of the SB becomes imperative. This study investigates on a microscopic level the influence of chemical interaction and charge transfer mechanisms on the formation of the GaAs SB.