An investigation of scanning capacitance microscopy on iron-contaminated p-type silicon

Scanning capacitance microscopy (SCM) is employed to examine iron-contamina ted p-type Si samples. For slightly contaminated samples, a dc voltage of - 0.8 V, applied between the sample and the conductive tip, induces positive trapped charges. Owing to the existence of these charges, the region contai ning trapped charges exhibits an obviously low dC/dV signal. According to c ontact-mode atomic force microscopy results, the surface, morphology has li ttle effect on the SCM signal. The experimental results indicate that SCM i s capable of detecting the distribution of oxidation-related. defects which cannot otherwise be easily observed by atomic force microscopy and transmi ssion electron microscopy. (C) 2001 The Electrochemical Society.