Transparent Probe Test Structure for Electrical and Physical Characterization of Defects in Thin Films

Abstract

This paper presents a new test structure, the transparent probe, which allows transmission electron microscopy analysis techniques on small regions of a thin film which have been physically isolated and tested electrically. In this way, physical structure may be correlated with associated electrical properties with a resolution not previously available by other techniques. An example described here is taken from a study on grain boundaries in polycrystalline silicon, but the test structure may be reasonably expected to be applicable to any thin film material which may be similarly patterned and etched. The technique can provide quantitative structural and electrical information on electrically active defects as small as a few tenths of a micrometer wide. © 2000 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.