Abstract: To further understand the average-bond-energy Em,which can be taken as the reference energy level in the calculation of metal-semiconductor contacts,the Em of the semiconductor and the Fermi level EF(M) of the metal on both sides of the metal-semiconductor interface in (Ge2)4(2Al)6(001),(Ge2)4(2Au)6(001),(Ge2)4(2Ag)6(001),(GaAs)4(2Al)6(001),(GaAs)4(2Au)6(001),and GaAs)4(2Ag)6(001) superlattices are investigated by the calculation of the LMTO-ASA energy band structure with the frozen-potential method.The results show that Em of the semiconductor and EF(M) of the metal are almost on the same horizontal energy level,i.e.Em≈EF(M) .In other words,Em and EF(M) on both sides of the metal-semiconductor interface are mutually aligned.This indicates that reliable calculation results can be obtained by taking Em as the reference energy level in the calculation of the barrier height of ideal metal-semiconductor contacts.

Key words: metal-semiconductor superlattice, Schottky barrier, average-bond-energy, Fermi level