Electron Tunneling in Metal-Semiconductor Barriers

Tunneling through the space-charge region of a uniformly doped semiconductor has been calculated in the effective-mass approximation. The exact solutions of the one-dimensional Schrödinger equation for a parabolic potential are used to determine the transparency of the barrier. Numerical results are presented for parameters appropriate to indium and $n$-type germanium. An example of experimental results typical of this system is quoted to illustrate qualitative agreement.