The influence of interstitial Ga and interfacial Au2P3 on the electrical and metallurgical behavior of Au-contacted III-V semiconductors

The effect of introducing a very small amount of Ga into Au-contacted InP on the behavior of that contact system was investigated. It was found that Ga affected both the metallurgical and the electrical behavior of the system. It is shown that Ga atoms in the interstices of the Au lattice prevent the solid-state reactions that normally take place between Au and InP during contact sintering and cause an order of magnitude reduction in the specific contact resistivity. It is also shown that the presence of Ga affects the reactions of GaP and GaAs with Au contacts.