The effect of localized uniaxial force (exerted by a hemispherical stylus) on the voltage‐current relationship of Au‐KTaO3Schottky barrier diodes is described. Pronounced reversible changes were observed and characterized by stress‐induced decreases of up to 0.8 eV in the metal‐semiconductor barrier height. The observed diodenvalues [n≡ (q/kT)(dV/dlnJ)] at 300°K ranged from 1.05 to 1.10. This indicates that thermionic field emission may be the dominant current flow mechanism. An analysis of the pressure profile produced by the stylus yields 4 × 10−11V‐cm2/dyn for the pressure sensitivity of the barrier height.