Drive-level capacitance profiling (DLCP) is a type of
capacitance–voltage-profiling characterization technique developed specifically for
amorphous
In condensed matter physics and materials science, an amorphous solid (or non-crystalline solid, glassy solid) is a solid that lacks the long-range order that is characteristic of a crystal.
Etymology
The term comes from the Greek ''a'' ("wi ...
and
polycrystalline materials, which have more anomalies such as deep levels, interface states, or non-uniformities.
Whereas in standard C–V profiles the charge response is assumed to be
linear (dQ = CdV), in DLCP profiles the charge response is expected to have significant non-linear behavior (dQ = C
0dV + C
1(dV)
2 + C
2(dV)
3) due to the significant larger AC-signal amplitude used in the DLCP technique.
DLCP can yield, like admittance
spectroscopy
Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets the electromagnetic spectra that result from the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and matter as a function of the wavelength or frequency of the radiation. Matter wa ...
, both the spatial and the energetic distribution of defects. The energetic distribution is obtained by varying the
frequency of the
AC signal, whereas the spatial distribution is sustained by modifications in the applied
DC-bias.
DLCP is a strictly dynamic measurement, meaning that the steady-state behavior recorded in a C–V profile is discarded. As a result, DLCP is insensitive to interface states.
References
Heath, Jennifer T., J. David Cohen, William N. Shafarman. "Bulk and MetaStable Defects in CuIn(1-x)Ga(x)Se2 Thin Films Using Drive Level Capacitance Profiling." ''Journal of Applied Physics.'' 95.3 (2004).
Semiconductor device fabrication