Measurement techniques for high power semiconductor materials and devices :

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Results of NBS research during FY 1980 directed toward the development of measurement methods for semiconductor materials and devices which will lead to more effective use of high-power semiconductor devices in applications for energy generation, transmission, conversion, and conservation are described. Emphasis is on the development of measurement methods for materials for thyristors and rectifier diodes. The major effort was to determine procedures for the effective utilization of deep-level measurements to detect and characterize defects which reduce lifetime or contribute to leakage current in power-device grade silicon. This effort is divided into two ongoing tasks concerned with: (1) the introduction of specific impurities into silicon wafers and the characterization of the resulting deep levels; and (2) the correlation of the results of these deep-level characterization techniques with the electrical properties of devices. A third task concerned with the standardization of preferred procedures for specimen preparation for spreading resistance measurements on thyristor-grade silicon was essentially completed during the year.