Contrast distortion induced by modulation voltage in scanning capacitance microscopy

Chang, Moo Been; Hu, C. W.; Chou, T. H.; Lee, Y. J.

doi:10.1063/1.4747319

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…In turn, for positive voltages, junction position varies significantly with the V DC change (x = 815 nm and x = 960 nm for V DC = 0.5 V and V DC = 1.0 V, respectively). Such effect was observed previously for silicon p‐n junctions and explained by carrier accumulation/depletion effect near semiconductor surface when sample is biased relative to AFM tip. This phenomena is more pronounced for lower doping concentration, therefore it was not observed for tunnel junction with highly doped regions.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 75%

A cross‐sectional scanning capacitance microscopy characterization of GaAs based solar cell structures

Szyszka

Dawidowski

Stafiniak

et al. 2017

Crystal Research and Technology

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Scanning Capacitance Microscopy was applied in investigation of individual components of tandem solar cell. The InGaAs tunnel junction, GaAs top subcell and GaAsN bottom subcell devices were grown by atmospheric pressure metalorganic vapour phase epitaxy. It was shown that accuracy of p‐n junction position determination by SCM method depends on doping concentration of layers in structure and measurement parameters.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 75%

A cross‐sectional scanning capacitance microscopy characterization of GaAs based solar cell structures

Szyszka

Dawidowski

Stafiniak

et al. 2017

Crystal Research and Technology

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“…This problem led to the development of dark-mode SCM (DM-SCM). The use of a high modulation voltage in SCM was discovered to lead to a distorted image during the scanning of a p–n junction [ 19 ], indicating the importance of using a low modulation voltage in SCM measurements. In a previous study, the voltage modulation efficiency for an SCM measurement was defined using a signal intensity model and the effects of the surface treatment and back-contact process used for the specimen preparation of SCM signals were studied in depth [ 20 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

DC-free Method to Evaluate Nanoscale Equivalent Oxide Thickness: Dark-Mode Scanning Capacitance Microscopy

Chang,

Wu,

Lin

et al. 2024

Nanomaterials

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This study developed a DC-free technique that used dark-mode scanning capacitance microscopy (DM-SCM) with a small-area contact electrode to evaluate and image equivalent oxide thicknesses (EOTs). In contrast to the conventional capacitance–voltage (C–V) method, which requires a large-area contact electrode and DC voltage sweeping to provide reliable C–V curves from which the EOT can be determined, the proposed method enabled the evaluation of the EOT to a few nanometers for thermal and high-k oxides. The signal intensity equation defining the voltage modulation efficiency in scanning capacitance microscopy (SCM) indicates that thermal oxide films on silicon can serve as calibration references for the establishment of a linear relationship between the SCM signal ratio and the EOT ratio; the EOT is then determined from this relationship. Experimental results for thermal oxide films demonstrated that the EOT obtained using the DM-SCM approach closely matched the value obtained using the typical C–V method for frequencies ranging from 90 kHz to 1 MHz. The percentage differences in EOT values between the C–V and SCM measurements were smaller than 0.5%. For high-k oxide films, DM-SCM with a DC-free operation may mitigate the effect of DC voltages on evaluations of EOTs. In addition, image operations were performed to obtain EOT images showing the EOT variation induced by DC-stress-induced charge trapping. Compared with the typical C–V method, the proposed DM-SCM approach not only provides a DC-free approach for EOT evaluation, but also offers a valuable opportunity to visualize the EOT distribution before and after the application of DC stress.

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“…In the past decade, the scanning capacitance microscopy (SCM) has been widely used in the carrier profiling of various functional structures 15 16 17 18 19 . However, confident SCM analysis on PN junction remains a challenge.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Nanoscale imaging of the photoresponse in PN junctions of InGaAs infrared detector

Xia

Tang

et al. 2016

Sci Rep

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Electronic layout, such as distributions of charge carriers and electric field, in PN junction is determinant for the photovoltaic devices to realize their functionality. Considerable efforts have been dedicated to the carrier profiling of this specific region with Scanning Probe Microscope, yet reliable analysis was impeded by the difficulty in resolving carriers with high mobility and the unclear surface effect, particularly on compound semiconductors. Here we realize nanometer Scanning Capacitance Microscopic study on the cross-section of InGaAs/InP photodetctors with the featured dC/dV layout of PN junction unveiled for the first time. It enables us to probe the photo-excited minority carriers in junction region and diagnose the performance deficiency of the diode devices. This work provides an illuminating insight into the PN junction for assessing its basic capability of harvesting photo-carriers as well as blocking leakage current in nanoscopic scale.

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Contrast distortion induced by modulation voltage in scanning capacitance microscopy

Cited by 5 publications

References 24 publications

A cross‐sectional scanning capacitance microscopy characterization of GaAs based solar cell structures

A cross‐sectional scanning capacitance microscopy characterization of GaAs based solar cell structures

DC-free Method to Evaluate Nanoscale Equivalent Oxide Thickness: Dark-Mode Scanning Capacitance Microscopy

Nanoscale imaging of the photoresponse in PN junctions of InGaAs infrared detector

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