STEM EBIC as a Quantitative Probe of Semiconductor Devices
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arXiv
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2025
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| _version_ | 1866914158718484480 |
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| author | Schneider, Sebastian Beckert, Sebastian Hammer, René König, Markus Moldovan, Grigore Pohl, Darius |
| author_facet | Schneider, Sebastian Beckert, Sebastian Hammer, René König, Markus Moldovan, Grigore Pohl, Darius |
| contents | Electron beam-induced current (EBIC) imaging in the scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM), STEM-EBIC, provides direct access to carrier transport at the nanoscale. While well established in bulk SEM geometries, its application to thin TEM lamellae remains largely unexplored. Here, we present a systematic STEM-EBIC study of silicon photodiode lamellae prepared by gallium and xenon focused ion beam (FIB) milling. We directly visualize the p-n junctions in thin cross sections and extract effective diffusion lengths for electrons and holes as a function of local thickness. The values are orders of magnitude smaller than those obtained by SEM-EBIC on bulk silicon, reflecting pronounced surface recombination and FIB-induced surface modifications. Current-voltage measurements further reveal severe deviations from the expected diode-like behavior, which we attribute to ohmic metal-semiconductor contacts in the emasurement setup. Our analysis establishes STEM-EBIC as a quantitative probe of carrier transport in nanoscale devices. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2511_11528 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | STEM EBIC as a Quantitative Probe of Semiconductor Devices Schneider, Sebastian Beckert, Sebastian Hammer, René König, Markus Moldovan, Grigore Pohl, Darius Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics Materials Science Electron beam-induced current (EBIC) imaging in the scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM), STEM-EBIC, provides direct access to carrier transport at the nanoscale. While well established in bulk SEM geometries, its application to thin TEM lamellae remains largely unexplored. Here, we present a systematic STEM-EBIC study of silicon photodiode lamellae prepared by gallium and xenon focused ion beam (FIB) milling. We directly visualize the p-n junctions in thin cross sections and extract effective diffusion lengths for electrons and holes as a function of local thickness. The values are orders of magnitude smaller than those obtained by SEM-EBIC on bulk silicon, reflecting pronounced surface recombination and FIB-induced surface modifications. Current-voltage measurements further reveal severe deviations from the expected diode-like behavior, which we attribute to ohmic metal-semiconductor contacts in the emasurement setup. Our analysis establishes STEM-EBIC as a quantitative probe of carrier transport in nanoscale devices. |
| title | STEM EBIC as a Quantitative Probe of Semiconductor Devices |
| topic | Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics Materials Science |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.11528 |