A simple technique for measuring the generation lifetime in SOI-substrate material using the principle of charge centroids

A charge-time measurement, utilizing the charge-centroid principle, is presented for the rapid assessment of silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrates. The technique is applicable to technologies which involve the formation of a buried dielectric layer with a thin-film body region wherein devices are formed. The measurement is routine and only requires a simple two-terminal SOI capacitor from which the quality of the body region, as indicated by the lifetime, can be assessed prior to device fabrication. This measurement can be carried out on any combination of dopant type. All parameters required by the analysis are obtainable from a simple two-terminal CV plot. >