Bell Telephone Laboratories

James V Di Lorenzo

Alfred Yi Cho

William Charles Niehaus

A nonalloyed ohmic contact (110-112, 120-122) to an n-type Group III(a)-V(a) compound semiconductor body (102-104) is formed by epitaxially growing a Group III(a)-V(a) n.sup.++ -layer (106-108, 106'-108') doped to at least 10.sup.19 cm.sup.-3 between the semiconductor body and a metal contact layer (110-112). The metal layer forms an ohmic contact without requiring heating above the eutectic temperature. In order to avoid contamination of the metal-semiconductor interface, a metal contact layer (120-122) may be deposited in situ after MBE growth of the n.sup.++ -layer. This technique results in both a metal-semiconductor interface with smoother morphology and also an ohmic contact without heating above the eutectic temperature. These procedures are specifically described with reference to the fabrication of GaAs FETs.

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Millington, NJ, United States of America

James V Di Lorenzo