Noncontact determination of interface trap density for semiconductor-dielectric interface structures
Document Type
Patent
Publication Date
May 2015
Patent Number
9041417
CPC
G01R 31/2648(20130101), G01R 31/2639(20130101), G01R 31/2656(20130101), G01R 31/311(20130101), G01R 27/26(20130101), G01R 31/2831(20130101), H01L 22/14(20130101), H01L 2924/0002(20130101)
Abstract
Embodiments of the subject method and apparatus relate to a sequence of noncontact Corona-Kelvin Metrology, C-KM, that allows the determination and monitoring of interface properties in dielectric/wide band gap semiconductor structures. The technique involves the incremental application of precise and measured quantities of corona charge, QC, onto the dielectric surface followed by determination of the contact potential difference, VCPD, as the material structure response. The V-Q characteristics obtained are used to extract the surface barrier, VSB, response related to the applied corona charge. The metrology method presented determines an intersection of the VCPD-QC characteristic obtained in the dark with the VOX-QC characteristic representing the dielectric response. The specific VSB-QC dependence surrounding the reference VFB value is obtained from this method and allows the noncontact determination of the dielectric interface trap density and its spectrum. Application of embodiments of the subject metrology method to thermal oxide on n-type 4H—SiC demonstrates the modification of the Dit distribution by Fowler-Nordheim stress. In addition, an ability to quantify and separate trapped charge components is provided.
Application Number
14/158,269
Recommended Citation
Oborina, Elena I. and Hoff, Andrew, "Noncontact determination of interface trap density for semiconductor-dielectric interface structures" (2015). USF Patents. 25.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/usf_patents/25
Assignees
University of South Florida
Filing Date
01/17/2014
