Resolving trapping effects by scanning microwave microscopy

Abstract

Trapping effects are playing an essential role in semiconductor devices. The localization of trapping effects with a high spatial resolution can provide valuable information on the interface and oxide quality in state of the art semiconductor devices. On the example of a Si diode with suspected oxide traps, a method based on Scanning Microwave Microscopy (SMM) is shown to resolve charge carriers, which accumulate within the silicon due to trapping effects at the Si/SiO2 interface.