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arXiv · 1110.0757

Probing Band-Tail States in Silicon MOS Heterostructures with Electron Spin Resonance

R. M. Jock·S. Shankar·A. M. Tyryshkin·Jianhua He·K. Eng·K. D. Childs·L. A. Tracy·M. P. Lilly·M. S. Carroll·S. A. Lyon
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Abstract

We present an electron spin resonance (ESR) approach to characterize shallow electron trapping in band-tail states at Si/SiO2 interfaces in metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) devices and demonstrate it on two MOS devices fabricated at different laboratories. Despite displaying similar low temperature (4.2 K) peak mobilities, our ESR data reveal a significant difference in the Si/SiO2 interface quality of these two devices, specifically an order of magnitude difference in the number of shallow trapped charges at the Si/SiO2 interfaces. Thus, our ESR method allows a quantitative evaluation of the Si/SiO2 interface quality at low electron densities, where conventional mobility measurements are not possible.

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R. M. Jock, S. Shankar, A. M. Tyryshkin, Jianhua He, K. Eng, K. D. Childs, L. A. Tracy, M. P. Lilly, M. S. Carroll, S. A. Lyon. 2011-10-04. Probing Band-Tail States in Silicon MOS Heterostructures with Electron Spin Resonance. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3675862

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