AI Article Synopsis

  • Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) has been widely used for imaging nanostructures, but traditional detectors often miss valuable information from secondary electrons.
  • By modifying standard SEM tools, researchers can capture detailed momentum and energy data from secondary electrons, enabling them to visualize electric fields in silicon p-n junctions and differentiate doped regions buried beneath the surface.
  • This new approach reveals significant insights into surface band bending in semiconductor structures, enhancing our understanding of complex electronic components crucial for modern manufacturing.

Article Abstract

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), a century-old technique, is today a ubiquitous method of imaging the surface of nanostructures. However, most SEM detectors simply count the number of secondary electrons from a material of interest, and thereby overlook the rich material information contained within them. Here, by simple modifications to a standard SEM tool, we resolve the momentum and energy information on secondary electrons by directly imaging the electron plume generated by the electron beam of the SEM. Leveraging these spectroscopic imaging capabilities, our technique is able to image lateral electric fields across a prototypical silicon p-n junctions and to distinguish differently doped regions, even when buried beyond depths typically accessible by SEM. Intriguingly, the subsurface sensitivity of this technique reveals unexpectedly strong surface band bending within nominally passivated semiconductor structures, providing useful insights for complex layered component designs, in which interfacial dynamics dictate device operation. These capabilities for noninvasive, multimodal probing of complicated electronic components are crucial in today's electronic manufacturing but is largely inaccessible even with sophisticated techniques. These results show that seemingly simple SEM can be extended to probe complex and useful material properties.

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Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.4c10527DOI Listing

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