Metal–semiconductor barrier studies of PbTe

In, Pb, Zn, and Cu are used to prepare metal—semiconductor contacts on p-type PbTe thin films. They are analysed by I–V and C–V techniques to determine barrier heights, depletion widths, and carrier profiles. The effective barrier energies for In, Pb, and Zn are in the order of the band gap. For Cu on PbTe the effective barrier height is found to be smaller than the band gap. The carrier dependence of the barrier heights is studied and found to be consistent with the inversion model of Walpole and Nill for the In, Pb, and Zn devices. Cu barrier devices on the other hand do not show inversion.