Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T18:38:43.689Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Secondary Electron Energy Contrast of Localized Buried Charge in Metal–Insulator–Silicon Structures

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 October 2018

Avinash Srinivasan Open the ORCID record for Avinash Srinivasan [Opens in a new window] ,
Weiding Han Open the ORCID record for Weiding Han [Opens in a new window]  and
Anjam Khursheed Open the ORCID record for Anjam Khursheed [Opens in a new window]
Avinash Srinivasan
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore, 4 Engineering Drive 3, Singapore 117576
Weiding Han
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore, 4 Engineering Drive 3, Singapore 117576
Anjam Khursheed*
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore, 4 Engineering Drive 3, Singapore 117576
*
Author for correspondence: Anjam Khursheed, E-mail: eleka@nus.edu.sg
Get access

Abstract

This paper presents a new method for creating and monitoring controlled localized negatively charged regions inside insulators with a scanning electron microscope (SEM). A localized buried charged region is created and observed close to the point where a high voltage primary beam (10 kV) strikes a metal–insulator–silicon specimen. The amount of buried charge within the insulator at any given moment can be dynamically monitored by detecting the appearance of a second peak in the secondary electron (SE) energy spectrum. SE energy spectral signals were obtained through the use of a compact high signal-to-noise energy analyzer attachment that was fitted on to the SEM specimen stage. An electrostatic model, together with Monte Carlo simulations, is presented to explain how the SE charge contrast effect functions. This model is then experimentally confirmed by using the SE energy spectral signal induced by a gallium ion beam inside a dual focused ion beam-SEM instrument.

Keywords

scanning electron microscopetoroidal analyzermetal–insulator–semiconductorsecondary electronsburied charge
Type
Materials Science Applications
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 24 , Issue 5 , October 2018 , pp. 453 - 460
Copyright
© Microscopy Society of America 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Belhaj, M, Jbara, O, Odof, S, Msellak, K, Rau, EI Andrianov, MV (2000) An anomalous contrast in scanning electron microscopy of insulators: The pseudo-mirror effect. Scanning 22, 352–356.Google Scholar
Cazaux, J (2001) About the secondary electron yield and the sign of charging of electron irradiated insulators. Eur Phys J AP 15, 167–172.Google Scholar
Fakhfakh, S, Jbara, O Fakhfakh, Z (2009) Charge regulation mechanism of grounded-coated insulators. Physics Procedia 2, 1391–1398.Google Scholar
Hoang, HQ, Osterberg, M Khursheed, A (2011 a) A high signal-to-noise ratio toroidal electron spectrometer for the SEM. Ultramicroscopy 111, 1093–1100.Google Scholar
Hoang, HQ, Osterberg, M Khursheed, A (2011 b) Experimental results from a second-order focusing toroidal energy spectrometer attachment for scanning electron microscopes. Nucl Instrum Methods Phys Res A 645, 241–244.Google Scholar
Hovington, P, Drouin, D Gauvin, R (2006) CASINO: A new monte carlo code in C language for electron beam interaction -part I: Description of the program. Scanning 19, 1–14.Google Scholar
Joy, D Griffin, B (2011) Secondary electron imaging—Doing it better. Microsc Microanal 17, 876–877.Google Scholar
Lin, Y Joy, DC (2005) A new examination of secondary electron yield data. Surf Interface Anal 37, 895–900.Google Scholar
Pawley, JB (2008) LVSEM for biology. In Biological Low-Voltage Scanning Electron Microscopy, Schatten H and Pawley JB (Eds.), pp 27–106. New York, NY: Springer.Google Scholar
Srinivasan, A Khursheed, A (2014) Probing and analyzing buried interfaces of multifunctional oxides using a secondary electron energy analyzer. Microsc Microanal 20, 1494–1498.Google Scholar