Scanning Capacitance Microscopy - Applications of SCM

Applications of SCM

Owing to the high spatial resolution of SCM, it is a useful nanospectroscopy characterization tool. Some applications of the SCM technique involve mapping the dopant profile in a semiconductor device on a 10 nm scale, quantification of the local dielectric properties in hafnium-based high-k dielectric films grown by an atomic layer deposition method and the study of the room temperature resonant electronic structure of individual germanium quantum dot with different shapes. The high sensitivity of dynamical scanning capacitance microscopy, in which the capacitance signal is modulated periodically by the tip motion of the atomic force microscope (AFM), was used to image compressible and incompressible strips in a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) buried 50 nm below an insulating layer in a large magnetic field and at cryogenic temperatures.