Elasto-electric coupling for direct electric field distribution measurement in semiconductor structures

International audienceSemiconductor materials are widely used in electronic industry, but their electrical characterization remains complex to estimate without a good model. It has already been shown that an elasto-electric coupling can be used to directly and non-destructively probe the electrical properties at the external interfaces of semi-conductor structures. In this paper, it is shown that such a coupling can also be used to probe the inner interfaces of semi-conductor structures. This capability is demonstrated by using a specific semi-conductor structure including a buried silicon p-n junction 720 μm away from the external electrodes. The signal generated by the elasto-electric coupling clearly shows separately the electric field at the electrodes and at the buried junction. The contact potential at the buried junction estimated from the measurements is in accordance with the semiconductor doping. This makes it possible to use an elasto-electric coupling for the complete characterization of semiconductor structures