Photoluminescence imaging for net doping measurements of surface limited silicon wafers

This paper demonstrates three practical methods of producing surface limited conditions on silicon wafers, a key requirement for high resolution dopant imaging using band-to-band photoluminescence. The proposed methods include aluminum sputtering, de-ionized water etching and mechanical abrasion. Net doping images measured on the surface-limited wafers using PL imaging were compared with images of the bulk doping obtained via free-carrier infrared emission.