Experimental determination of the pressure dependence of the barrier height of metal/[n-type GaAs] Schottky contacts: A critical test of Schottky-barrier models

The experimentally measured pressure dependence of the Au/[n-type GaAs] barrier height, 9.5 meV/kbar, is consistent with the theoretically calculated value for an interface with a high concentration of As antisite defects while it is inconsistent with the calculated value for an ideal interface. This is conclusive evidence that Fermi-level pinning is dominated by defects at a metal/semiconductor interface, whereas the pressure dependence of the Al/[n-type GaAs] barrier height, 10.5 meV/kbar, is consistent with the prediction of an ideal interface.