The effect of Contact Charge upon the Injection Current at an Electrode-Insulator Interface

The effect of contact charge upon carrier injection has been evaluated using a number of possible expressions for the contact charge distribution. It was found that the contact charge effects dominated below a specific field around those of typical service levels. Below this field injection of same polarity carriers took place from the contact charge reservoir with a form for the injection current that depended upon the contact charge distribution. Above this field the injection current followed the Schottky form. Injection of opposite polarity carriers followed a Schottky form at all fields, though with activation energies and electrode fields modified by the contact charge.