  The problem of Fermi-level pinning at semiconductor-metal contacts is
readdressed starting from first-principles calculations for Al/GaAs. We give
quantitative evidence that the Schottky barrier height is very little affected
by any structural distortions on the metal side---including elongations of the
metal-semiconductor bond (i.e. interface strain)---whereas it strongly depends
on the interface structure on the semiconductor side. A rationale for these
findings is given in terms of the interface dipole generated by the ionic
effective charges.
