Electron beam induced current and remote electron beam induced current assessment of chemical vapor deposited diamond films

Abstract

In the present work, electron beam induced current ͑EBIC͒ has been applied to characterize several kinds of chemical vapor deposition diamond films. Regions of enhanced carrier recombination are detected in plan-view observations of thin films as well as in cross sections of thick films. Remote EBIC ͑REBIC͒ has been applied to obtain information about charged defects present in the samples. The dependence of EBIC and REBIC contrast on the contact configuration used, and on the observation conditions has been analyzed. Cathodoluminescence images of the same samples have been recorded for comparison.

Imaging of diamond defect sites by electron-beam-induced current

“…In the preceding studies of EBIC on diamonds [19][20][21][22][23], nothing was reported about the 'gain'. The 'gain' of EBIC on polycrystalline diamond films was reported to be~2 × 10 −5 [28] which is significantly low as compared to the present 'gain'. One of the reasons for the very low 'gain' may be the seemingly ohmic metal electrode (Ti/Au) used for the EBIC signal line [28].…”

“…The 'gain' of EBIC on polycrystalline diamond films was reported to be~2 × 10 −5 [28] which is significantly low as compared to the present 'gain'. One of the reasons for the very low 'gain' may be the seemingly ohmic metal electrode (Ti/Au) used for the EBIC signal line [28]. In general, the 'gain' G for a Schottky junction EBIC configuration is expressed by a phenomenological formula G = I g * Σ, where I g is the maximum beam-generated current, Σ is the collection efficiency [29,30].…”

Surface Dielectric Tunnel Barrier Induced by Mn Doping in SnO2 Micro‐ and Nanostructures

“…Dark contrast in EBIC images corresponds to low electric currents collected by the In/W tip electrode, which can be attributed to a decrease of the charge carrier density due to recombination of electron‐hole pairs . Extended defects, such as dislocations and grain boundaries, typically result in dark EBIC contrasts, as they usually act as radiative recombination centers . In this case, the presence of radiative recombination centers at the central region of the Mn doped SnO 2 microplates has been confirmed by CL measurements, as shown in Figure c where the central region of the microplates appear brighter.…”

Study of growth hillocks in GaN:Si films by electron beam induced current imaging

“…PAT contrast changes towards only bright or only dark contrast by modifying these parameters. The influence of temperature and excitation density on the REBIC contrast has been previously reported for II-VI compounds 11 and other materials as diamond 8 and superconducting ceramics. 7 The same effect is obtained by the application of a bias or reverse voltage 6 which alters the energy band structure at the boundary and produces flatband conditions.…”

“…Electron-hole pairs generated by the SEM electron beam produce a current in an external circuit which, after amplification, is used to image the spatial distribution of electrically active regions in the sample. This technique has been applied to the study of electronic recombination and electrical conduction in different materials [5][6][7][8] but its capability to characterize the surface features in GaN films has been to our knowledge not previously reported. In this work, RE-BIC is used to image electrically active regions of growth hillocks in GaN:Si films, whose recombination properties have been previously studied by CL.…”