On the impact of substrate contact resistance in bifacial MIS-type lifetime structures.

Bifacial metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) structures are used to intentionally manipulate field-effect passivation of dielectric layers on crystalline silicon substrates during lifetime measurements by external biasing. It is found that the impact of biasing on surface passivation depends on the quality of the substrate contact, in particular in asymmetric front/rear biasing conditions. A mathematical model is presented and used to demonstrate the problems arising from a high substrate contact resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]