ABSTRACT
Probing the electrical properties of semiconductor materials is of utmost importance to understand semiconductor processes (i.e., dopant incorporation, activation, and diffusion mechanisms) as well as the electrical performance of nanoelectronics devices. Scanning spreading resistance microscopy (SSRM) has emerged as the most valuable technique for 2D and 3D carrier mapping in semiconductor device structures due to its excellent spatial resolution, sensitivity, and ease of quantification. The present chapter first introduces the principles of the technique, thereby discussing the underlying physical mechanisms such as the nanometer-size probesemiconductor contact. Moreover, 2D and 3D carrier profiles of nanowire-based tunnel FETs and III/V fin structures as determined
by SSRM are presented and analyzed in detail. Eventually, fast Fourier transform-SSRM (FFT-SSRM), a novel variant of SSRM, is introduced. The latter technique allows for decoupling the spreading resistance from parasitic series resistances and therefore extends conventional SSRM toward quantitative carrier profiling in aggressively scaled confined volumes.
