New interpretation of C–V measurements for determining the concentration profile in a semiconductor

Abstract

The well-known C–V technique for determining the doping profile in a semiconductor is re-examined. Based on an analysis of the Poisson equation, a modification of the conventional procedure for evaluating the space-charge density distribution within the depletion layer of a semiconductor is presented. This procedure involves a developed integral-capacitance technique, which proves to be generally valid and gives the correct basis for determining the space-charge density near the edge of the depletion layer rather than the real doping profile. The relationship between the proposed method and the conventional differential-capacitance technique is revealed and a comparison of the effectiveness of both of them is also made. The method proves to be useful if shallow diffusion profiles within low-doped substrates are analyzed, when the conventional C–V profiling technique is not applicable. Experimental results obtained with an n+/n epitaxial layer are given and discussed as an illustration of the represented study.