  Bardeen's model for the non-ideal metal-semiconductor interface was applied
to metal-wrapped cylindrical nanowire systems; a significant effect of the
nanowire diameter on the non-ideal Schottky barrier height was found. The
calculations were performed by solving Poisson's equation in the nanowire,
self-consistently with the constraints set by the non-ideal interface
conditions; in these calculations the barrier height is obtained from the
solution, and it is not a boundary condition for Poisson's equation. The main
finding is that thin nanowires are expected to have tens of meV higher Schottky
barriers compared to their thicker counterparts. What lies behind this effect
is the electrostatic properties of metal-wrapped nanowires; in particular,
since depletion charge is reduced with nanowire radius, the potential drop on
the interfacial layer, is reduced - leading to the increase of the barrier
height with nanowire radius reduction.
