In situ semiconductor materials characterization by emission Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

The results of a novel emission Fourier transform infrared (E/FT-IR) spectrometer for in-situ characterization of semiconductor materials is presented. For the experiments, the wafers were heated and the infrared emission profiles from the substrates were collected by a standard FT-IR spectrometer. Differences in the emission spectra from different substrates are explained through correlation to the optical properties of the corresponding substrates. The in-situ infrared emission spectrum of a lightly doped (10-20 Ω·cm) silicon wafer at 200°C is very similar to its ex-situ transmission spectrum at room temperature, although the spectrum is inverted. This similarity makes possible the analysis of E/FT-IR spectra by using existing spectral libraries. Finally, it is shown that the E/FT-IR technique can be used for noncontact and noninvasive real-time identification and possibly quantification of impurities during silicon oxidation and for real-time epi-film thickness monitoring during silicon epitaxy