Localization and preparation of recombination-active extended defects for transmission electron microscopy analysis

Recombination-active extended defects in semiconductors frequently occur at a low density which makes their structural and chemical analysis by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques virtually impossible. Here an approach is described that uses in situ electron beam induced current (EBIC) in a focused ion beam machine to localize such defects for TEM lamella preparation. As an example, a defect complex occurring in block-cast multicrystalline silicon with a density of less than 10 4 cm − 3 has been prepared and analyzed by TEM. The chemical sensitivity of the technique is estimated to be about 10 13 atoms cm − 2 which is comparable to synchrotron-based x-ray techniques. The localization accuracy of the TEM lamella is shown to be better than 50 nm when low-energy EBIC is used.