Model-free determination of the dependence of charge density in accumulation and inversion semiconductor layers on the semiconductor surface potential from the voltage-capacitance characteristics of metal-insulator-semiconductor structures

Abstract

A method for the analysis of the quasi-static voltage-capacitance characteristics of metal-insulator-semiconductor structures in the majority-carrier depletion region of the semiconductor surface is developed. The method provides for the quantitative evaluation of the doping concentration, the flat-band voltage, and the effective values of the capacitance and thickness of the gate insulator. The dependences of the surface potential and surface charge in the semiconductor on the gate-electrode potential are obtained in the absence of a priori data on the state of the electron gas during high enrichment or strong inversion. It is shown that these experimental dependences can be used as a criterion for the validity of the theory of the space-charge region in a semiconductor when the effects of degeneracy and dimensional quantization of electron gas are considered.