Conventional EBIC versus MOS/EBIC study of electrically active defects in Si and SOI

An electron beam induced current in metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitors (MOS/EBIC) investigation of the defects in silicon on insulator (SOI) wafers and oxidation induced stacking faults in CZ-Si is presented. Some advantages of the method over conventional Schottky diode EBIC have been demonstrated. MOS/EBIC is shown to delineate defects which are shallower than the space charge region of Schottky diodes and not detectable using conventional EBIC. In addition, the MOS/EBIC technique is capable of separating bulk, interfacial and oxide defects in the MOS structures. Using the MOS/EBIC technique, electrically active defects below the buried oxide in SOI wafers were observed for the first time. The local properties of thermal oxides grown in different oxidation conditions were studied by MOS/EBIC. It was found that during reoxidation induced stacking faults produce defects in growing oxide which cause enhanced oxide current sites.