Numerical algorithms for the atomistic dopant profiling of semiconductor materials

In this dissertation, we investigate the possibility to use scanning microscopy such as scanning capacitance microscopy (SCM) and scanning spreading resistance microscopy (SSRM) for the "atomistic" dopant profiling of semiconductor materials. For this purpose, we first analyze the discrete effects of random dopant fluctuations (RDF) on SCM and SSRM measurements with nanoscale probes and show that RDF significantly affects the differential capacitance and spreading resistance of the SCM and SSRM measurements if the dimension of the probe is below 50 nm. Then, we develop a mathematical algorithm to compute the spatial coordinates of the ionized impurities in the depletion region using a set of scanning microscopy measurements. The proposed numerical algorithm is then applied to extract the (x, y, z) coordinates of ionized impurities in the depletion region in the case of a few semiconductor materials with different doping configuration.;The numerical algorithm developed to solve the above inverse problem is based on the evaluation of doping sensitivity functions of the differential capacitance, which show how sensitive the differential capacitance is to doping variations at different locations. To develop the numerical algorithm we first express the doping sensitivity functions in terms of the Gâteaux derivative of the differential capacitance, use Riesz representation theorem, and then apply a gradient optimization approach to compute the locations of the dopants. The algorithm is verified numerically using 2-D simulations, in which the C-V curves are measured at 3 different locations on the surface of the semiconductor. Although the cases studied in this dissertation are much idealized and, in reality, the C-V measurements are subject to noise and other experimental errors, it is shown that if the differential capacitance is measured precisely, SCM measurements can be potentially used for the "atomistic" profiling of ionized impurities in doped semiconductors.