In this communication, Scanning Capacitance Spectroscopy (SCS) is used in order to characterize the electrical properties of thin dielectrics. The aim is to determine the best experimental conditions that lead to a reliable interpretation of SCS and to the best signal to noise ratio, with the objective of measuring the characteristics of the oxide (charges in the oxide, flat band voltage…). Comparisons are made with macroscopic C‐V curves obtained with an impedance analyzer to test the reliability of the results obtained by SCS. In particular, we study the role of the AFM laser and tip‐sample contact on the shape of the SCS (width, additional peaks…) and show that they introduce parasitic features which are not present in macroscopic C‐V curves. This leads to a difficult interpretation of SCS results, especially in the case where characteristic parameters of the oxide are to be extracted from SCS analysis.

Topics
Electrical properties and parameters, Electrical equipment, Electronic noise, Scanning probe microscopy, Capacitance spectroscopy, Educational assessment
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© 2009 American Institute of Physics.
2009
American Institute of Physics