Current flow through metal shunts in ohmic contacts to n +-Si

It is experimentally found that an ohmic contact based on Au-Pt-Ti-Pd-n + �Si metallization is formed due to nanoscale metal shunts containing Si, Au, and Pt in the region of the interface with n + �Si, which appears during heat treatment at T = 450°C for 10 min in a vacuum chamber with a residual pressure of 10 -6 Torr. The high density of shunts adjoining dislocations and other imperfections is confirmed by the temperature dependence of the specific contact resistance ρ c (T). The density of conductive dislocations, cal� culated from the temperature dependence of ρc is ~5 × 10 9 cm -2 which correlates with the density of struc� tural defects, determined by the etch pits after removal of the metallization layers.