High resolution electrical characterization of III-V materials and devices

Sammanfattning: The continuing shrinkage of semiconductor devices towards nanoscale features and increased functionality has prompted a strong need for high-resolution characterization tools capable of mapping the electrical properties with nanoscale lateral resolution. In this regard, scanning capacitance microscopy (SCM) scanning spreading resistance microscopy (SSRM) and Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) have emerged as powerful techniques.This thesis focuses on new applications of these techniques for the electrical characterization of III-V materials, devices and low-dimensional systems. One example is the investigation of GaAs/AlGaAs buried-heterostructure lasers with cross-sectional SCM. Several important issues have been addressed: nanoscale contrast related to local band structure, characterization of interfaces and evaluation of electrical properties of the regrown layers. These investigations demonstrate the ability of SCM for reliable, non-destructive and high resolution analysis of opto-electronic devices.Applications of SCM and SSRM as potential in-line evaluation tool for III-V processing are demonstrated. In this scope, the first work deals with the characterization of ion beam implanted InP, a promising approach to achieve ultrashort carrier lifetimes. The changes in the local electrical properties of this material induced by annealing are tracked. SCM and SSRM measurements were crucial in identifying the local regions of different conductivity due to the non-uniform damage profiles. The results are correlated with those obtained by complementary structural, electrical and optical characterization. The second work in this category establishes the utility of SCM for evaluating the impact of dry etching on the electrical properties of InP. The highly conductive nature of the near surface damaged layer and its subsequent recovery upon annealing is evidenced. A striking correlation between the SCM signal distributions and the ideality factors of macroscopic Schottky contact is observed.The last part deals with the electrical characterization of low-dimensional systems using SCM, SSRM and KPFM. The challenging issues motivating this work are the detection and quantification of confined carriers, the determination of band-offsets and the determination of the spatial resolution of the technique employed. The ability of SCM, SSRM and KPFM to detect carriers accumulated in InGaAs/InP quantum wells (QWs) is demonstrated. In each of these techniques, the physical mechanisms behind the contrast characteristic obtained at QWs are elucidated. The specific issues relating to the determination of the band-offsets are discussed. A new method to determine the "electrical" spatial resolution of SCM and SSRM is addressed using quantum well structures with varying inter-well spacings. Using commercial probes, sub-30 nm and sub-5 nm lateral resolution are determined for SCM and SSRM, respectively. The experimental conditions to perform high resolution measurements are identified.