Electron Tunneling between a Metal and a Semiconductor: Characteristics of Al-Al2O3-SnTe and −GeTe Junctions

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Abstract
The process of electron tunneling from a metal to a semiconductor through an insulating layer is considered. Theoretical current‐voltage expressions have been obtained, in particular, for the case when the semiconductor is degenerate p type and the conduction band of the insulator provides the dominant tunneling barrier. The existence of an energy gap and a relatively small Fermi energy in the semiconductor makes the current highly asymmetrical with respect to the polarity of the applied voltage. Experimentally, junctions of Al‐Al2O3‐SnTe and −GeTe have been fabricated and their I‐V characteristics measured at 4.2°K. Good agreement is observed between the theoretical and experimental current behavior, from which energy parameters of the semiconductors and the barrier relations of the junctions have been obtained.