Faculty Publications
Publication Date
2012
Disciplines
Materials Science and Engineering | Physics | Semiconductor and Optical Materials
Abstract
We calibrate the secondary electron signal from a standard scanning electron microscope to voltage, yielding an image of the surface or near-surface potential. Data on both atomically abrupt heterojunction GaInP/GaAs and diffused homojunction Si solar cell devices clearly show the expected variation in potential with position and applied bias, giving depletion widths and locating metallurgical junctions to an accuracy better than 10 nm. In some images, distortion near the p-n junction is observed, seemingly consistent with the effects of lateral electric fields (patch fields). Reducing the tube bias removes this distortion. This approach results in rapid and straightforward collection of near-surface potential data using a standard scanning electron microscope.
Document Type
Published Version
Rights
Copyright © 2012 American Institute of Physics. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics. This article appeared in Journal of Applied Physics, 2012, volume 111, issue 4 and may be found at doi:10.1063/1.3684556
Original Citation
Jennifer T. Heath, Chun-Sheng Jiang, & Mowafak M. Al-Jassim
Measurement of semiconductor surface potential using the scanning electron microscope.
Journal of Applied Physics, 2012, volume 111, issue 4
doi:10.1063/1.3684556
DigitalCommons@Linfield Citation
Heath, Jennifer T.; Jiang, Chun-Sheng; and Al-Jassim, Mowafak M., "Measurement of Semiconductor Surface Potential Using the Scanning Electron Microscope" (2012). Faculty Publications. Published Version. Submission 3.
https://digitalcommons.linfield.edu/physfac_pubs/3
Comments
This article is the publisher-created version, also considered to be the final version or the version of record. It includes value-added elements provided by the publisher, such as copy editing, layout changes, and branding consistent with the rest of the publication.