Calibration of second harmonic generation technique to probe the field-effect passivation of Si(100) with Al2O3 dielectric layers.

Optical second harmonic generation (SHG) can be employed to characterize the passivation quality of semiconducting material interfaces. The interface electric field (E_DC) related to the existing charges at and near the interface, including the fixed oxide charges Q_ox, gives rise to the electric field induced second harmonic phenomenon. In this paper, we calibrate the SHG response for E_DC measurement, using Al₂O₃/SiO₂/Si(100) samples with different Q_ox. To perform this calibration, SHG and capacitance-voltage measurements (to access the electrical field of the samples) were made. The experimental results match well the simulated calibration curve, proving the potential of the SHG as stand-alone characterization technique for dielectric stacks on Si. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]