Monte Carlo simulation of GaAs Schottky barrier behaviour

The transport of carriers through the space-charge region (SCR) of a GaAs Schottky barrier is studied by the Monte Carlo simulation technique. Simulation results indicate that the carrier distribution is significantly perturbed from a Max-wellian near the metal-semiconductor boundary, limiting the validity of the commonly used thermionic diffusion model. Phenomena related to the disturbed distribution include increased recombination velocity at the interface and reduced carrier concentration near the junction. The interface recombination velocity is found to be constant with applied bias and the Bethe condition is shown to be more than sufficient to ensure the validity of the thermionic emission model.