ABSTRACTThe electrical properties of Pd/Zn/Pd/Au based ohmic contacts to p-type In0 47Ga0 53As/ InP with an interposed superlattice of 50Å In047Gao 53As/ 50 Å InP have been investigated. In this study, several configurations of the Pd/Zn/Pd/Au metallization were fabricated with varying thicknesses of the Zn and interfacial Pd layers in the range 0 to 400 Å. The lowest values of specific contact resistance, ρc, were 1.2 x 10-5 Ω cm2 as-deposited and 7.5 x 106 Ω cm2 for samples annealed at 500 °C. In the as-deposited structures, ρc was reduced by an increase in thickness of both the Zn and Pd layers to 300 Å. For annealed samples, a critical thickness of the Zn ≥ 50 Å and Pd ≥ 100 Å layers was required in order to significantly reduce the magnitude of ρc. These results are consistent with a model of Pd/Zn contacts based on Zn doping of the interface. Studies of thermal stability of the contacts at 400 °C and 500 °C have shown that the Zn/Pd/Au and Pd/Zn/Pd/Au configurations were significanty lower in ρc at extended ageing times than the Pd/Au contacts.