2-D Simulations for accurate extraction of the specific contact resistivity from contact resistance data

Reply to "Comment on 'An accurate method to extract specific contact resistivity using cross-bridge Kelvin resistors'"

“…It could be argued that the test structure could be simply modified, and with additional taps the technique of Proctor et al [3] used to extract the sheet resistance under the contact. However, this model is basically incorrect since it uses the end resistance equation from the transmission line model (tlm) [4], which is not directly applicable to the Kelvin structure proposed by Proctor and Linholm [5] by very definition and derivation. We have not analyzed nor measured the exact error in using this technique [3] so we cannot comment as to what this error might be.…”

“…Our comparison of contact resistance measurements to simulations yields the transfer length beneath the contact It = - [4], [5]. We then calculate pc from It.…”

“…In conclusion, we agree with HR that there is no universal technique to measure specific contact resistivity for all semiconductor systems.We must add, however, that for the vast majority of metalsemiconductor contacts of practical importance, there are techniques that work exceedingly well [ i] , [4], [ 1 11. These techniques abandon the 1-D models because of their inaccuracies in the modeling of low pc contacts.…”