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In this brief, the transient single-contact electron-beam-induced current (SC-EBIC) and the conventional steady-state EBIC modes of the planar-collector configuration that were studied using a Technology Computer Aided Design device simulator are presented. The feasibility of these EBIC data in the extraction of the diffusion length of the planar-collector configuration with any values of surface recombination velocities and any size of the Schottky contact is also presented. The effect of the size of the Schottky contact on steady state and transient EBIC signals as well as the extracted diffusion length and linearization coefficient is discussed in this brief. The EBIC information obtained from the SC-EBIC and the conventional EBIC is found to be able to evaluate the diffusion length accurately regardless of the size of the Schottky contact.

This paper presents a study of the extraction of the diffusion length in the normal-collector configuration with finite thickness with the use of the electron beam-induced current (EBIC) line scan. The EBIC data used were obtained from a commercially available device simulator. It was found that the surface recombination at the free surfaces affects the EBIC data, and therefore also affects the value of the extracted diffusion length and the linearization coefficient α. The effects of the surface recombination at the free surfaces and the sample thickness on the diffusion length extracted and the linearization coefficient α were researched and are discussed in this paper. Furthermore, the conditions at the free surfaces for a direct and accurate extraction of the bulk diffusion length at different sample thicknesses are suggested.

In this paper, a study on the electron beam induced current (EBIC) technique for the extraction of semicon-ductor parameters in the planar-collector configuration is presented. The EBIC line scan data are computed using an expression published in the Journal of Engineering Mathematics in 1984. and their correctness is verified using a 2-D device simulator. The EBIC data are then used to investigate the direct method to determine the diffusion length and surface recombination velocity proposed by another study publised in the IEEE Transaction on Electron Devices in 1995. The impacts of the starting location and the width of beam scanning range and depth of the generation volume on the linearization coefficient and the accuracy of the extracted diffusion length are presented. A new set of fitting parameters to extract the surface recombination velocity at the beam entry surface from the value is redefined, hence, improving the accuracy of the extraction. The conditions for the accurate extraction of diffusion length and surface recombination velocity are discussed.

Charge collection is one of the crucial processes to collect the induced current when a semiconductor sample is subjected to some external excitations such as the electron or photon beams. The charge collection probability is the basis in the study of this induced current particularly in the field of photonic devices, photovoltaic cells as well as in the characterization of semiconductor materials and devices. In this paper, the analytical expressions for the charge collection probability of the finite-dimension normal-collector configuration, with and without surface recombination at the free surfaces are presented. An excellent agreement has been found between the charge collection probability profiles computed using the presently derived analytical expressions and those obtained using a device simulator. The results have been used to study the effects of the various physical parameters on the charge collection probability. These analytical expressions are expected to enhance our understanding of the charge collection process. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

In this paper, the challenges to compute the charge collection probability from within an L-shaped junction well using the existing analytical expression are discussed. A solution is proposed to overcome these challenges. A good agreement has been found between the results computed using the proposed solution and those obtained from the finite-difference method and device simulator. The accuracy of the computed charge collection probability improves significantly when the proposed solution is used.

The analytical expression for the charge collection probability within a U-shaped junction well is derived in this paper. The U-shaped junction well is a common feature found in most integrated circuits. The charge collection probability is the probability that the generated carrier will be collected at the charge-collecting junction. The availability of an analytical expression is expected to facilitate the study and development of the electron-beam-induced current technique and devices that share the same operating principle, e.g., the solar cell. The newly derived analytical expression is expected to avoid the computational difficulties and problems encountered using the currently available analytical expression. The charge collection probability profiles that were generated using a semiconductor device simulator program were used to verify the analytical profiles that were computed using the newly derived analytical expression. Good agreement was found. The junction depth, junction width, diffusion length, and depth of the generation volume were varied, and their effects were studied.

This paper presents a simple and direct method for computing the charge collection probability distribution by utilizing the reciprocity theorem. The proposed method simplifies the charge collection probability computation with the use of the finite difference method. We demonstrate the method by computing the charge collection probability distribution of two finite junction configurations, the L-shaped and the U-shaped junction wells, and comparing the computational results with that obtained from the analytical expression as well as with the experiment. Good agreements were found. This method has the potential of advancing our understanding of photovoltaic devices as well as semiconductor characterization techniques, which make use of the charge collection process.

The charge collection probability is the basis in the study of induced current generated when the semiconductor sample is subjected to some external excitation. In this paper, we present an analytical expression for the charge collection probability of the normal-collector configuration, with finite dimensions and surface recombination at the free surfaces. An excellent agreement has been found between the charge collection probability profiles computed using the newly derived analytical expression and those obtained using a device simulator. The analytical expression was then used to study the effects of the various physical parameters on the charge collection probability. This new analytical expression is expected to enhance our understanding of the charge collection process.

The scanning electron microscope is a versatile tool and its electron beam techniques have been widely used in semiconductor material and device characterizations. One of these electron beam techniques is the electron-beam-induced current (EBIC) technique. One of the limitations of the conventional EBIC technique is that it requires charge collecting junctions which may not be readily available in junctionless samples such as bare substrates unless some special sample preparation procedure such as the fabrication of a diffused junction is done on the junctionless sample. In this paper, the technique of detecting EBIC current in junctionless samples with the use of a two-point probe is presented. It is found that the EBIC current is independent from its physical parameter when the sample thickness is greater than 4L; the width to the right of probe 2 and the width to the left of probe 1 are greater than 2L and 8L, respectively. The parameters affecting this technique of detecting the EBIC current such as the depth of the generation volume, probe spacing, and the applied bias are also discussed in this paper. A commercially available two-dimensional device simulator was used to verify this technique.

In the above titled paper (ibid., vol. 55, no. 5, pp. 1220-1228, May 08), there were typo errors. The corrected material is presented here.