SEMILAB publishes paper about Assessment of Surface Preparation Methods for Mercury (Hg) Probe Schottky Capacitance-Voltage (MCV) on Epitaxial Silicon

08.06.2021

Mercury Probe (Hg-Probe) Schottky CV is widely used for carrier density and resistivity profiling in silicon epitaxial layers. Preparation of the silicon surface is crucial for obtaining high quality Capacitance-Voltage (CV) measurements. There are a variety of methods currently being used to treat bare silicon epitaxial and polished bulk surfaces in preparation for Hg-Schottky CV measurements. The treatments include wet chemical and dry treatments. Usually the treatment can be the limiting factor for both the measurement time and quality. In this evaluation, a number of typical treatments are evaluated for P-Type Epitaxial silicon surfaces. A novel concept for treating surfaces has also been investigated. It involves placing a silicon wafer in a chamber where it is exposed to a Thermal and optimized ambient. This Pretreatment Chamber is referred to as, PTC. A physics based assessment of the typical P-type Silicon surface treatments is made and presented.

Read more about our research with GlobalWafers in ECS Journal of Solid State Science and Technology (2021) Volume 10, Number 7.