smartEBIC

Characterise the electrical properties of semiconductor materials
and devices

SmartEBIC is a new system for studying electrical properties of semiconductor materials and devices using the established technique of Electron Beam Induced Current (EBIC). Based on Gatan's leading DigitalMicrograph™ software platform, and combining DigiScan™ II Digital Beam Control with high bit signal sampling and intelligent amplifier control, SmartEBIC transforms the technique by introducing quantification with ease of use. The product is suitable for Scanning Electron Microscopes (SEMs) and Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopes (STEMs).

Electron Beam Induced Current (EBIC) is used to characterize a semiconductor's electrical properties. With an internal electrical field present (e.g. a p-n junction), an electrically contacted specimen can detect the flow of electrons and holes that are created by the electron beam. Any variation in the generation, drift or recombination of the charge close to the generation volume can be measured as contrast. In this way EBIC reveals the local, sub-surface electronic structure of a semiconductor specimen device. As the EBIC signal is very strongly influenced by electron hole pair recombination, the technique is a powerful way of characterising defects and their detrimental effect in materials and devices.

As EBIC often compliments cathodoluminescence (CL) in characterising recombination events, SmartEBIC has been designed to be compatible with Gatan's MonoCL3 product range. In addition, the software can optionally be used in a mode which bypasses the current amplifier, so as to quantify input voltages from other sources. This increases the versatility of the product with regard to other characterisation SEM techniques.

For more information on EBIC, click here (downloadable PDF).

Features

• SmartEBIC incorporates Gatan's DigiScan™ II system for ultimate flexibility in digital beam control, and includes two inputs as standard, to allow the EBIC signal to be acquired simultaneous to another imaging signal. DigiScan™ II offers additional functions such as scan rotate, position beam, waveform monitor, integrate persistence and line synchronization.
• With SmartEBIC software, sophisticated yet quick pre-sampling routines allow the amplifier to be automatically configured according to signal strengths from a user specified region of interest. The user has the choice of qualitative imaging, or a quantified mapping from this region. Signals are sampled with high bit precision, and with flexible choice of pixel number width and height.
• SmartEBIC contains an I-V trace measurement routine, which can operate ex-situ or in-situ. This routine is invaluable to qualify both the specimen and contacting. The incident beam current on the specimen holder can also be measured. This value then allows results to be optionally displayed as an EBIC gain.
• In addition to SmartEBIC's live linescans, post acquistion line profiles can be extracted from maps for advanced analysis. With SmartEBIC a simple fitting routine from profiles can be used to extract values of the minority carrier diffusion length. Many other mathematical functions can also be applied to images and data sets.
• SmartEBIC for SEM also includes an EBIC specimen holder which is suitable for bench-top contacting using tungsten probes. There is an optional choice between a special tilting sample holder (TSH), which allows 180deg tilting to a contacted specimen, (performed ex-situ), or an advanced sample holder (ASH) designed for plan view contacting with spring loaded lowering of 2 probes. For some SEMs these sample holders are also suitable for airlock loading. For more advanced contacting applications, in-situ probes can be designed.

	• Designed for DC mode with low noise performance.
	• Suitable for all SEMs with available external scan control.
	• "One click" auto-calibrate routine for simple quantification. Easy-to-learn DigitalMicrograph™ operations.
	Integration with DigiScan™ Digital Beam Control:
	• Full control of amplifier gain, offset, bias.
	• Simple auto Gain, auto Offset, and AutoScale features operate on ROI or full area.
	• Software "knows" settings so DigiScan™ map is calibrated and quantitative.
	• Advanced features complement simple qualitative imaging.
	Specimen Contacting: • For bench top contacting and tilting (with TSH).	Tilting sample holder
	• Interfaced to Gatan stage adapter or cold stage
	• Suitable for airlock loading with electrical contacts for C1010, and some SEM's own airlock
	• Includes incident beam current measurement capability

Due to continuing improvements, specifications are subject to change without notice.