Nano-scale defect analysis by BEEM

Ballistic-electron-emission microscopy (BEEM) has been performed on epitaxi al CoSi2/Si(1 1 1) films. The spatial variation of hot carrier transmission across these interfaces is dominated by scattering at dislocations and poi nt defects, while the Schottky barrier height is not measurably affected by defects. The excellent spatial resolution of 13 Angstrom, achieved for fil ms as thick as 50 Angstrom on n-Si(1 1 1) and of 16 Angstrom on p-Si(1 1 1) can be explained only by taking into account the theoretically predicted f ocussing effect of the hot electron beam, induced by the special constant e nergy surfaces of CoSi2. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved .