Electrical properties and microstructures of Au/Pt/Ti/Ni ohmic contacts top‐type ZnTe were investigated using the transmission line model method and cross‐sectional transmission electron microscopy. The specific contact resistance decreases when the annealing temperature is increased and reaches a minimum at 300 °C. The formation of NiTe2from the reaction between Ni and ZnTe plays an important role in lowering the contact resistance. A contact stability test performed at 102 °C suggests that these ohmic contacts are stable even under high‐current injection. ©1995 American Institute of Physics.