A Novel Method for the Simultaneous Characterization of Bulk Impurities and Surface States by Photocurrent Measurements

Abstract

A new method for evaluating both surface recombination velocity and bulk minority carrier lifetime by photocurrent measurements was proposed and validated by comparison with capacitance‐voltage measurements of interface state density. This method is an evolution of the measurement of surface recombination velocity by the Elymat technique. It does not require the oxide to be etched off and consists of measurements of surface recombination velocity under an applied surface bias. The application of a surface bias allows the control of the interface potential and the identification of the suitable interface condition such that surface recombination velocity can be considered as a measurement of interface state density. In addition, it is shown that surface recombination velocity is suppressed when the surface is under accumulation conditions, so the application of a surface bias provides the possibility of a surface passivation by driving the surface into accumulation. This passivation by surface polarization is about as effective as the chemical passivation by HF. Finally, the dependence of surface recombination velocity on the injection level is shown to be reversed when the interface changes from depletion to accumulation or inversion conditions. © 2000 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.

Molybdenum Contamination in Indium and Boron Implantation Processes

“…In this case, it is possible to obtain both the bulk recombination lifetime and the surface recombination velocity by subsequent measurements of the backside photocurrent (13,14).…”

Detection of Metal Segregation at the Oxide-Silicon Interface

“…By using the results of these calculations and by assuming that interface state density, D it , is a weakly varying function of energy E, s max is expected to increase in proportion to interface state density. 18 This expectation was experimentally confirmed by comparing surface recombination velocity and interface state density data obtained by measurements of capacitance as a function of voltage.…”

“…17͒ for the description of carrier recombination at the surface. It was shown 18 that surface recombination velocity is suppressed when the silicon surface is under accumulation conditions. This ''electrostatic passivation'' allows carrier lifetime to be calculated and hence surface and volume recombination contributions to be separated.…”

A comparative analysis of different measurement techniques to monitor metal and organic contamination in silicon device processing

“…According to the Shockley-Read-Hall theory, s max increases in proportion to the interface state density [45]. In previous works [44], the link between s max and D it was experimentally confirmed. This method does not require the formation of a capacitor structure, and therefore has the advantage of being faster than conventional methods for the analysis of the oxide-silicon interface.…”

“…In this paper, we report the results of an experiment testing the sensitivity of some techniques to detect the effects of organic contamination on the oxide–silicon interface. Intentionally contaminated wafers were oxidized and the obtained oxide–silicon interface was analyzed by surface recombination velocity measurements by using the modified Elymat technique , and by GOI tests.…”