The purpose of this study is to analyze interface states (N_ss) in Au/TiO₂(Rutile)/n–Si Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs). TiO₂ was deposited on a n–Si substrate by reactive magnetron sputtering and annealed at 900 °C for 4 h in atmosphere to obtain rutile phase. The current voltage (I‐V) characteristics of SBDs were measured at room temperature. From the I‐V characteristics of the SBDs ideality factor (n) and zero‐bias barrier height values (ϕ_Bo) 2.3 and 0.76 eV, respectively, were obtained. The N_ss distribution profile (N_ss) as a function of (E_c − E_ss) was extracted from the forward‐bias I‐V measurements by taking account effective barrier height and (ϕ_e) and series resistance (R_s) for the Schottky diode. N_ss values ranges from 4.3 × 10¹² cm⁻² eV⁻¹ in (E_c − 0.33) eV and 8.0 × 10¹³ cm⁻² eV⁻¹ in (E_c − 0.33) eV. These values are better than in the literature values where TiO₂ was deposited sol‐gel method. The N_ss values taking into R_s were lower than without R_s. This shows that R_s should be taking account. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.