Non Destructive Electrical Defect Characterisation and Topography of Silicon Wafers and Epitaxial Layers

Abstract

AbstractRecent progress in experimental technique made it possible to improve the sensitivity of microwave detected photoconductivity by several orders of magnitude. This opens completely new possibilities for a contact less non-destructive electrical defect characterization of silicon wafers and even of epitaxial layers on substrates with extremely low resistivity. Electrical properties such as lifetime, mobility and diffusion length can be measured without contacts also at very low injection levels with a resolution only limited by the diffusion length of the charge carriers. The doping level of the material plays no major role.Owing to the high sensitivity, thermal excitation of charge carriers out of defect levels filled during the photo pulse can also be observed. This leads to defect specific photoconductivity transients which deliver pieces of information like DLTS, however, again without contacts, non critical doping, and with high spatial resolution.