Electrical Modelling and Characterisation of Alloyed Ohmic Contacts

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis paper briefly reviews the standard Transmission Line Model (TLM) commonly used to measure the specific contact resistance of a planar ohmic contact. It is proposed that in the case of a typical Au-Ge-Ni alloyed ohmic contact, a more realistic model would need to take into account the presence of the alloyed layer at the metal-semiconductor interface. An alternative is described which is based on three contact layers and the two interfaces between them, thus forming a Tri-Layer Transmission Line Model (TLTLM). Expressions are given for the contact resistance Rc and the contact end resistance Re of this structure, together with a current division factor, f. Values for the parameters of this model are inferred from experimentally reported values of Rc and Re for two types of contact.