POTENTIAL PINCH-OFF EFFECT IN INHOMOGENEOUS AU CO/GAAS67P33(100)-SCHOTTKY CONTACTS/

In this work ballistic electron emission microscopy was used to probe on nanometer scale the local Schottky barrier height in metal-semicond uctor (MS) contacts with an intentionally inhomogeneously prepared met allization. Schottky barrier maps of heterogeneous Au/Co/GaAs67P33(100 )-Schottky contacts show areas with different barrier heights which ca n be correlated to different metallizations (Au or Co) at the interfac e. The local Schottky barrier height of the Co patches depends on thei r lateral extension. This result can be explained by the theory of the potential pinch-off effect in inhomogeneous MS contacts. (C) 1997 Ame rican Institute of Physics.