Electrical characteristics are described for a contact made between mercury and n-type InP. Both capacitance-voltage and current-voltage measurements are made. The contact is found to be unstable, with both types of characteristics showing a steady drift with time, but the curves nevertheless follow ideal Schottky barrier theory closely over a wide range of contact times. If the InP is left in air for a few hours before making the contact the characteristics indicate a higher value for the diode barrier. If the slice is allowed to remain in air for a long period before making the contact, then the characteristics no longer obey the Schottky expressions. The drift in the characteristics can be enhanced by leaving a reverse bias on the diode between measurements. It is suggested that the instability of the diode may be due to a chemical reaction between the mercury and an interfacial layer between the metal and semiconductor.
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Tuck et al. (1980) studied this question.
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