M08900 - SEMI M89 - Test Method for Recombination Lifetime of the Epilayer of the Silicon Epitaxial Wafer (p/p+, n/n+) by the Short Wavelength Excitation Microwave Photoconductive Decay Method

In recent years, ULSI and other devices have been increasingly miniaturized and integrated. As a result, high-tech devices use more and more epitaxial wafers (p/p+, n/n+) which have substrates with lower resistivity, because epitaxial wafers are advantageous over other types of silicon wafers in several respects. For example, their features include integrity of active region of device, gettering capacity, resistance for latch up, etc. On the other hand, epitaxial wafers are feared to present serious problems in their manufacturing process, such as heavy metal contamination and defect formation in epilayers. Therefore, it is necessary to standardize the measurement method for recombination lifetime as a means of quality evaluation of epitaxial wafer contamination, and crystal defects etc.

This Standard specifies the measurement method for recombination lifetime in epilayer of silicon epitaxial wafer (epitaxial wafer; p/p+[++], n/n+[n++]) by microwave photoconductive decay method using short wavelength excitation light source (the short wavelength excitation µ-PCD method).

For evaluation of an epilayer, it is necessary to confine excess carriers in an epilayer. Therefore, samples of the epitaxial silicon wafers should have p/p+ (++) or n/n+ (++) structure.

Referenced SEMI Standards (purchase separately)

SEMI M1 — Specification for Polished Single Crystal Silicon Wafers

SEMI M59 — Terminology for Silicon Technology

SEMI MF28 — Test Method for Minority-Carrier Lifetime in Bulk Germanium and Silicon by Measurement of Photoconductive Decay

SEMI MF42 — Test Method for Conductivity Type of Extrinsic Semiconducting Materials

SEMI MF84 — Test Method for Measuring Resistivity of Silicon Wafers With an In-Line Four-Point Probe

SEMI MF391 — Test Method for Minority Carrier Diffusion Length in Extrinsic Semiconductors by Measurement of Steady-State Surface Photovoltage

SEMI MF533 — Test Method for Thickness and Thickness Variation of Silicon Wafers

SEMI MF673 — Test Method for Measuring Resistivity of Semiconductor Wafers or Sheet Resistance of Semiconductor Films with a Noncontact Eddy-Current Gage

SEMI MF723 — Practice for Conversion Between Resistivity and Dopant Density for Boron-Doped, Phosphorus-Doped, and Arsenic-Doped Silicon

SEMI MF978 — Test Method for Characterizing Semiconductor Deep Levels by Transient Capacitance Techniques

SEMI MF1388 — Test Method for Generation Lifetime and Generation Velocity of Silicon Material by Capacitance-Time Measurements of Metal-Oxide-Silicon (MOS) Capacitors

SEMI MF1530 — Test Method for Flatness, Thickness, and Thickness Variation of Silicon Wafers by Automated Noncontact Scanning

SEMI MF1535— Test Method for Carrier Recombination Lifetime in Electronic-Grade Silicon Wafers by Non-Contact Measurement of Photoconductivity Decay by Microwave Reflectance

Revision History

SEMI M89-0721 (first published)