Calibrated nanoscale dopant profiling using a scanning microwave microscope

Journal Article · Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2012 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3672445· OSTI ID:22036797

Huber, H P; Hochleitner, M; Hinterdorfer, P ^[1]; Humer, I; Smoliner, J ^[2]; Fenner, M; Moertelmaier, M; Rankl, C; Tanbakuchi, H; Kienberger, F ^[3]; Imtiaz, A; Wallis, T M; Kabos, P ^[4]; Kopanski, J J ^[5]

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1. University of Linz, Christian Doppler Laboratory for Nanoscopic Methods in Biophysics, Altenbergerstrasse 69, 4040 Linz (Austria)
2. Technical University of Vienna, Institute for Solid State Electronics, 1040 Vienna (Austria)
3. Agilent Technologies, Inc., 5301 Stevens Creek Blvd., Santa Clara, California 95051 (United States)
4. National Institute for Standards and Technology, Electromagnetic Division, 325 Broadway, Boulder, Colorado 80305-3337 (United States)
5. National Institute of Standards and Technology, Semiconductor Measurements Division, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899-8120 (United States)

The scanning microwave microscope is used for calibrated capacitance spectroscopy and spatially resolved dopant profiling measurements. It consists of an atomic force microscope combined with a vector network analyzer operating between 1-20 GHz. On silicon semiconductor calibration samples with doping concentrations ranging from 10{sup 15} to 10{sup 20} atoms/cm{sup 3}, calibrated capacitance-voltage curves as well as derivative dC/dV curves were acquired. The change of the capacitance and the dC/dV signal is directly related to the dopant concentration allowing for quantitative dopant profiling. The method was tested on various samples with known dopant concentration and the resolution of dopant profiling determined to 20% while the absolute accuracy is within an order of magnitude. Using a modeling approach the dopant profiling calibration curves were analyzed with respect to varying tip diameter and oxide thickness allowing for improvements of the calibration accuracy. Bipolar samples were investigated and nano-scale defect structures and p-n junction interfaces imaged showing potential applications for the study of semiconductor device performance and failure analysis.

• OSTI ID: 22036797
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 111, Issue 1; Other Information: (c) 2012 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPY
CALIBRATION
CAPACITANCE
CRYSTAL DEFECTS
DOPED MATERIALS
ELECTRIC POTENTIAL
GHZ RANGE
INTERFACES
MICROWAVE RADIATION
NANOSTRUCTURES
OXIDES
P-N JUNCTIONS
SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES
SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS
SILICON
SPECTROSCOPY