Electrochemical etching of silicon: A powerful tool for delineating junction profiles in silicon devices by transmission electron microscopy

In this article, we present in some detail the two-dimensional delineation technique based on selective electrochemical etch and anodic oxidation of s ilicon. Compared to pure chemical etch, the sensitivity strongly improves a nd, in the case of boron, the doping profile can be delineated uh to a conc entration level well below the limit reported for pure chemical etch. We al so demonstrate that a proper control of the etching parameters allows us to get effective improvement in delineating As-doped regions, and compared to pure chemical delineation, better sensitivity values are reported. (C) 200 0 American Vacuum Society. [S0734-211X(00)08101-4].