Non-destructive, in-line characterization of semiconductor materials

摘要

A method for non-destructively determining parameters of a doped semiconductor material involves applying an excitation to a surface of the semiconductor material to photogenerate minority carriers in a region of the semiconductor material, presenting an electric field across the region of the semiconductor material, measuring photoluminescence produced by recombination of the photogenerated minority carriers, and using the photoluminescence measurements to compute one or more parameters of the doped semiconductor material. Excitation may involve pulsed or CW lasers. Computed parameters may include one or more of: the minority carrier mobility of the semiconductor material; the saturation drift velocity of minority carriers in the semiconductor material; the diffusion constant of minority carriers in the semiconductor material; the recombination lifetime of minority carriers in the semiconductor material; and/or the effective temperature of the semiconductor material. An optional magnetic field may be presented across the semiconductor region to enable computation of the effective mass of minority carriers in the semiconductor material.