Interface states and the nature of metal-silicon contacts

Abstract

The Schottky barrier heights have been investigated for Au and Ag on atomically clean and oxidized cleaved silicon (111) surfaces by the conventional C-V and I-V techniques. A novel ultrahigh-vacuum scratch technique enables the existence of impurity layers to be established at the interfaces after the establishment of contact. The invariance of the measured barrier height for various interfaces is discussed in terms of existing theories.