This investigation reports on the effects of sintering (25 degrees C up to 450 degrees C) on Au/Ti/GaAs Schottky barrier submicron metal-semiconductor field-effect transistors with an interfacial layer. In short channel devices the presence of an interfacial layer at the metal-semiconductor junction is inevitable. This reduces the transconductance and gives rise to the nonideal I-V characteristics. The adverse effects of the interfacial layer can be reduced significantly by sintering the finished devices at 350 degrees C in H-2/N-2 ambient for 30 s. This enhances the Schottky response of the device and an improvement up to 40% in the device extrinsic transconductance has been achieved.