A Schottky barrier is a metal-semiconductor junction which has rectifying characteristics, suitable for use as a diode. The largest differences between a Schottky barrier and a p-n junction are its typically lower junction voltage, and decreased (almost nonexistent) depletion width in the metal. Hot metal work from a blacksmith In chemistry, a metal (Greek: Metallon) is an element that readily forms ions (cations) and has metallic bonds, and metals are sometimes described as a lattice of positive ions (cations) in a cloud of electrons. ... A semiconductor is a material with an electrical conductance that is intermediate to those of an insulator and a conductor. ... Types of diodes A diode can be thought of as the electronic version of a one-way valve. ... When n- and p-type semiconductors are joined forming a pn-junction, that is the interface between the two types of the semiconductor, a depletion region is created. ... Depletion width is the width of the depletion zone in a p-n junction. ...

Not all metal-semiconductor junctions are Schottky barriers. This depends on the metal's work function, the band gap of the intrinsic semiconductor, and the type and concentration of dopants in the semiconductor. Design of semiconductor devices requires familiarity with the Schottky effect to ensure Schottky barriers are not created accidentally where an ohmic connection is desired. The work function is the minimum energy (usually measured in electron volts) needed to remove an electron from the Fermi level in a metal to a point at infinite distance away outside the surface. ... In solid state physics and related applied fields, the band gap is the energy difference between the top of the valence band and the bottom of the conduction band in insulators and semiconductors. ... Concentration is a very common concept used in chemistry and related fields. ... A dopant is an impurity that is added in small amounts to a pure substance to change its properties. ...

Advantages

Schottky barriers, with their lower junction voltage, find application in areas where a device more nearly approximating an ideal diode is desired. They are also used in conjunction with normal diodes and transistors, where their lower junction voltage is used for circuit protection (among other things). Through hole transistors (tape measure marked in centimeters) The transistor is a solid state semiconductor device which can be used for amplification, switching, voltage stabilization, signal modulation and many other functions. ...

Because one of the materials in a Schottky diode is a metal, lower resistance devices are often possible. In addition, the fact that only one type of dopant is needed may greatly simplify fabrication. Nasas Glenn Research Center clean room. ...

Overall, however, Schottky devices find only limited application compared to other semiconductor technologies.

Devices

A Schottky barrier as a device by itself is known as a Schottky diode. The Schottky diode (named after German physicist Walter H. Schottky) is a semiconductor diode with a low forward voltage drop and a very fast switching action. ...

A bipolar junction transistor with a Schottky barrier between the base and the collector is known as a Schottky transistor. Because the junction voltage of the Schottky barrier is small, the transistor is prevented from saturating too deeply, which improves the speed when used as a switch. This is the basis for the Schottky and Advanced Schottky TTL families, as well as their low power variants. The schematic symbols for PNP- and NPN- type BJTs. ... A Motorola 68000-based computer with various TTL chips. ... The concept of power occurs in multiple areas. ...

A MESFET, or MEtal-Semiconductor FET, is a device similar in operation to the JFET, which utilizes a reverse biased Schottky barrier to provide the depletion region. A particularly interesting variant of this device is the HEMT, or High Electron Mobility Transistor, which also utilizes a heterojunction to provide a device with extremely high conductance. Italic text'Italic textBold text MESFET stands for Metal-Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor. ... FET can mean: FET, field effect transistor FET, a Mazda piston engine This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Electric current flow from source to drain in a JFET is restricted when a voltage is applied to the gate. ... HEMT stands for High Electron Mobility Transistor. ... A heterojunction is a semiconductor diode junction which is composed of alternating layers of semiconductor material. ...