Quantum enhanced electric field mapping within semiconductor devices

TL;DR

This paper introduces a quantum-enhanced method using silicon vacancy centers in SiC to perform 3D mapping of electric fields and charge carrier concentrations inside working semiconductor devices with nanometer precision.

Contribution

It presents a novel operando technique combining quantum sensing and photoluminescence excitation to map electric fields and free charge carriers in semiconductor devices.

Findings

Successfully mapped local electric fields using Stark shift measurements.

Determined local dopant and charge carrier concentrations within the device.

Enabled 3D nanoscale mapping of electric properties in real operating conditions.

Abstract

Semiconductor components based on silicon carbide (SiC) are a key component for high-power electronics. Their behavior is determined by the interplay of charges and electric fields, which is typically described by modeling and simulations that are calibrated by nonlocal electric properties. So far, there are no experimental methods that allow for the 3D mapping of both the electric field and the concentrations of free charge carriers inside an electronic device. To fulfill this information gap, we propose an operando method that utilizes single silicon vacancy (VSi) centers in 4H-SiC. The VSi centers are at various positions in the intrinsic region of a pin-diode. To monitor the local static electric field, we perform Stark shift measurements based on photoluminescence excitation (PLE), which allows us to infer the expansion of the depletion zone and therefore to determine the local concentration of dopants. Besides this, we show that our measurements allow us to additionally obtain the local concentration of free charge carriers. The method presented here therefore paves the way for a new quantum-enhanced electronic device technology, capable of mapping the interplay of mobile charges and electric fields in a working semiconductor device with nanometer precision.