Abstract
In active semiconductor devices, the junction characteristics are critical for the electrical performance. As an alternative of the atomic force microscopy (AFM)-based electrical techniques which provide unique junction characterization, other methods are dedicated for the delineation of the electrical junction such as the wet chemical etching, the electrochemical plating method, the Seebeck effect imaging (SEI) method, the electron-beam induced current (EBIC) technique and the secondary electron potential contrast (SEPC) method. The aim of this paper is in the one hand to compare these five techniques in term of sample preparation, spatial application range, spatial resolution, simplicity and information displayed. In the other hand, this review aims to provide some guidelines for the appropriate delineation method(s) selection. It was confirmed that chemical based techniques are the simplest junction delineation methods but exhibit some drawbacks in term of spatial resolution and reproducibility. Despite of a limited spatial resolution, it was evidenced that EBIC can provide accurate electrical characterization of the junction. Finally, it was demonstrated that SEPC is the most promising technique providing the higher spatial resolution. The effect of the sample preparation method has been described. Even if the comparison was mainly based on homo-micro-Silicon junctions (n-p and n-p-n-p), the results were also discussed for short SiC junctions. The importance of the analysis context was considered in this paper and analysis flow was suggested for specific analysis cases.
Highlights
Electrical homo-junctions are elementary “building blocks” of most semiconductor electronic devices such asHow to cite this paper: Vivet, N., Diogo, M., Aubert, A., Moinet, T., Allanic, F., Perdreau, R. and Rebrassé, J.-P. (2016) Electrical Homo-Junction Delineation Techniques: A Comparative Study
This work was focused on the comparison of five experimental techniques allowing the delineation of electrical anisotype homojunction when quantitative doping profile information is not required: the Chemical Etching Delineation (CED) method, the electrochemical plating method, the Seebeck effect imaging (SEI) technique, the electron-beam induced current (EBIC) technique and the secondary electron potential contrast (SEPC) technique
As explained in the Basics section, these techniques rely on very different physical or chemical mechanisms resulting in both advantages and drawbacks for the purpose of this paper
Summary
Electrical homo-junctions are elementary “building blocks” of most semiconductor electronic devices such asHow to cite this paper: Vivet, N., Diogo, M., Aubert, A., Moinet, T., Allanic, F., Perdreau, R. and Rebrassé, J.-P. (2016) Electrical Homo-Junction Delineation Techniques: A Comparative Study. The physical interface between these two layers is called “metallurgical junction” and can be characterized by its localization and dimensions through two parameters: the junction depth (Xj), and the lateral diffusion (XL). By joining these two layers, electrical phenomena occur, leading to a space charge region (SCR—only containing ionized donor or acceptor impurities) which is characteristic of the doping profile and the metallurgical characteristics. This is the distribution of this SCR as a function of bias-voltage which leads to the electrical properties of the junction. The availability of accurate junction characterization methods is of key importance for the design of new devices on one side and for the characterization of a wide range of failure mechanism on the other side
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