The nature of ion bombardment damage on Si surface barriers has been studied with 20‐keV, variable‐dose Ar ion implantation and controlled removal of the damaged Si surface layers prior to Schottky metallization. The electrical properties of resultant Al/p‐Si Schottky diodes are found to be insensitive to the removal of the first few tens of nm of Si, and subsequent etching of over 100 nm is needed to restore the Schottky barrier height. Low‐temperatureI‐Vcharacteristics of these devices further reveal the presence of ion damage‐induced polycrystalline regions, confirming recent observations under high‐resolution electron microscopy.