Abstract
In an attempt to improve Ohmic contacts to gallium arsenide, we undertook the characterization of the gold germanium contact by measuring its barrier height. The intrinsic barrier height of the system was found to be 0.74±0.01 eV and independent of the carrier concentration in the semiconductor. However, it can be considerably decreased if the metal is deposited on a heated substrate, leading to a reduced Ohmic resistance of the contact on low‐resistivity gallium arsenide.