Simulation, modeling and parameter extraction studies in EBIC mode of SEM

The electron-beam-induced current (EBIC) technique using scanning electron microscope (SEM) is one of the powerful tools for the characterization and failure analysis of semiconductor materials and devices, particularly the characterization of the minority carriers transport properties. These include the determination of the diffusion length and the surface recombination velocity which have significant impacts on the functionality and performance of the semiconductor devices, for example, the photodiode and bipolar devices. In this thesis, the physical principles and the operating mechanisms of the EBIC and its host SEM are briefly discussed. This is followed by the literature review on the use of EBIC technique for the characterization of semiconductor materials and devices. The primary objective of this thesis is to enhance and strengthen the understanding of EBIC technique and its application on the extraction of semiconductor parameters by suitable modelling and simulation. The objectives of this thesis are achieved by addressing the issues such as the lack of detailed analysis of the charge collection probability and the semiconductor parameters extraction method for various EBIC configurations such as the L- and U-shaped junction well, the normal-collector and the planar collector configurations. In the first part of the thesis, in-depth studies and analyses of the charge collection probability, i.e., normalized point source EBIC current, of the non-conventional EBIC configurations such as the finite dimension normal-collector, U-shaped junction well and L-shaped junction well configurations are presented. In the second part of the thesis, the thorough studies of the direct method for the extraction of semiconductor material and devices parameters for planar- and normal collector configuration are presented. The factors affecting the determination of the diffusion length and the linearization coefficient of the planar- and normal-collector configurations are well presented in this part of the thesis. In the last part of the thesis, a novel method for detecting the beam-induced signal was presented. This proposed two-point probe junction-less EBIC method has been investigated for the detection of the induced current signal in samples with no built-in electric field. The preliminary analysis of this method is presented and the impacts of several physical parameters on the induced current signal are illustrated.Doctor of Philosophy (EEE