What is a Schottky barrier or contact?

[ryanuser]

I looked at many websites including wikipedia and videos on youtube but I found them all very complicated and many contained diagrams that did not make sense to me. What is a Schottky barrier or contact in simplest form so that a 17 year old high school physics student can understand?

Thanks

 

[Jon B]

The simple example would be the application of a Cat Whisker Diode of a crystal radio. A metal contact directly in contact with a semiconductor material like Germanium. Hot carrier diode.

 

[Baluncore]

A "normal" diode is a junction between a P type and an N type semiconductor material.
A Schottky diode is a junction between a metal and either an N type or a P type semiconductor material.
Schottky diodes are fast and usually have a lower forward voltage drop than PN diodes.

Beyond that, there is no simple explanation without a course in semiconductor physics.