Abstract
Chemical anodization and voltage contrast scanning electron microscopy (VC-SEM) have been used to identify electrically faulty structures in a bipolar test array. Direct comparison of these techniques was achieved by examining the same emitters with each method. VC-SEM is shown to be a useful technique for delineating E-C shorts because of its nondestructive and purely electrical nature. Further investigations by transmission electron microscopy revealed dislocations in many short-circuited emitters and occasionally in unshorted devices. This confirmed prior observations that crystallographic defects in silicon devices may sometimes be, but are not always, electrically active.
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Carim, A.H., Sinclair, R. & Stacy, W.T. Characterization of Emitter-Collector Shorts by Anodization, Voltage Contrast Sem, and Tem. MRS Online Proceedings Library 41, 375–380 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1557/PROC-41-375
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/PROC-41-375