Inelastic Electron Tunneling Spectroscopy: Investigation of Bulk Dielectrics and Molecules

To overcome the numerous challenges for the miniaturization of complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology, diverse materials have been examined using various characterization methods. Inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy (IETS) has been regarded as a critical measurement technique to scrutinize materials. This is because the high sensitivity of IETS can provide important information regarding the material structures and molecular compositions (bonding structures, impurities, defects, and traps) in metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) structures, as well as the molecular conformation/isomerization, and contact geometry in molecular devices. This review introduces the background of IETS and recent applications of IETS on thin gate dielectrics, large DNA molecules, functional molecules, and diatomic molecules.