EBIC microscopy for the characterization of semiconductor materials and devices

For dislocation-free silicon crystals, defects generated during semiconductor device fabrication processes are often the end result of inhomogeneities formed during crystal growth. Impurity-point defect complexes are often transformed into a variety of microdefects during subsequent thermal processing. Extensive investigations have been published on the analysis of microdefects such as stacking faults, complex dislocation colonies and impurity precipitates in silicon crystals. For crystals grown with the Czochralski method, oxygen and carbon have been the subject of many recent investigations. Oxygen precipitation during thermal annealing has been identified as a dominant cause of minority carrier lifetime degradation. The investigative methods used in the majority of these studies include: transmission electro microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, I.R. absorption spectroscopy, X-ray transmission methods and chemical decoration etching.Conventional electron microscopy provides no direct information on the relationship between defects in crystals and electrical effects in semiconductor devices.