Charge injection phenomena at the metal/dielectric interface investigated by Kelvin probe force microscopy

Florian Mortreuil (1) , Christina Villeneuve-Faure (2) , Laurent Boudou (2) , Kremena Makasheva (3) , G. Teyssedre (2)

1 LAPLACE - LAboratoire PLasma et Conversion d'Energie
2 LAPLACE-DSF - Diélectriques Solides et Fiabilité
3 LAPLACE-MPP - Matériaux et Procédés Plasmas

The understanding of charge injection mechanism at metal/dielectric interface is crucial in many applications. A direct probe of such phenomenon requires a charge measurement method whose spatial resolution is compatible with the characteristic scale of phenomena occurring after injection, like charge trapping, and with the geometry of samples under investigation. In this paper, charge injection at metal/dielectric interface and their motion in silicon nitride layer under tunable electric field are probed at nanoscale using a technique derived from Atomic Force Microscopy. This was achieved by realizing embedded lateral electrode structures and using surface potential measurement by Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy (KPFM) to provide voltage, field and charge profiles close to the metal/dielectric interface during and after biasing the electrodes. The influence of electric field enhancement at the interface due to the electrode geometry was accounted for. Electron and hole mobility was estimated from surface potential profiles obtained under polarization. Charge dynamic was investigated during depolarization steps.

Mots clés: KPFM; Thin dielectric layer; Lateral electrodes; Charge injection; Metal/dielectric interface

Domaines: Sciences de l'ingénieur [physics]

Florian Mortreuil, Christina Villeneuve-Faure, Laurent Boudou, Kremena Makasheva, G. Teyssedre. Charge injection phenomena at the metal/dielectric interface investigated by Kelvin probe force microscopy. Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, 2017, 50 (17), pp.175302. ⟨10.1088/1361-6463/aa665e⟩. ⟨hal-02324315⟩