SSRM characterisation of FIB induced damage in silicon

Scanning spreading resistance microscopy (SSRM) has been applied to study focused ion beam (FIB) induced damage in silicon in dependence on ion irradiation doses from 10(exp 12) cm-2 to 2·10(exp 16) cm-2. Starting from the lowest dose, SSRM detects increasing spreading resistance (SR) with increasing dose. For doses from 2·10(exp 13) cm-2 to 4·10(exp 14) cm-2, a slight decrease of SR is measured whereas for higher doses SR again slightly increases. The results are explained by physical effects like decreased carrier mobility due to increased scattering, amorphisation of silicon and precipitation of implanted Ga ions. The results clearly prove that SSRM is well suited for the fast detection of ion beam induced damage with high lateral resolution.