The temperature dependence of contact resistivity of the Ge/Pd and the Si/Pd nonalloyed contact scheme on n-GaAs

The temperature dependence of the contact resistance of the Ge/Pd and Si/Pd metalization scheme on n-GaAs was investigated. These two contact systems are based on solid-phase reactions, thus leading to nonspiking ohmic contacts to n-GaAs. The experimental results show that the ohmic behavior is likely due to both a highly doped surface n+ region and/or a small barrier at the interface. The origin of this small barrier and nonlinear current-voltage characteristics for certain samples are also discussed.