AVS 46th International Symposium
    Electronic Materials and Processing Division Wednesday Sessions
       Session EM+NS-WeM

Invited Paper EM+NS-WeM5
Characterization of Electronic Materials and Devices by Scanning Probe Microscopies

Wednesday, October 27, 1999, 9:40 am, Room 6C

Session: Nano-characterization of Molecules, Materials, and Devices
Presenter: C.C. Williams, University of Utah
Authors: C.C. Williams, University of Utah
V. Zavyalov, University of Utah
L. Klein, University of Utah
J. Kim, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
Correspondent: Click to Email
Several studies of the electrostatic properties of oxides and silicon devices have been performed by the Scanning Capacitance Microscope (SCM) and the Electrostatic Force Microscope (EFM). The SCM provides a method for measuring topographical and electrical roughness of thin oxides, surface charge and local carrier and dopant density in semiconductors. On thin oxides, the SCM reveals a nanometer scale variation in the "electrical thickness" of the oxide. The thickness variations seen by SCM have been compared with topographical (AFM) and surface potential measurements by EFM in UHV. Surface potential variations of order 5 mV are observed on the same spatial scale as the thickness variations seen by the SCM. Calculations show that the measured surface potential variations correspond to less than one electron per tip area (30 nm radius). Single MOSFET devices have been imaged in cross-section under active electrical bias by SCM. The images provide a measure of the distribution of the carriers in a device under bias. Finally, a new technique will be described for detecting the transfer of a single electron between a SPM tip and surface.