What is Electron Beam Induced Current?
Electron Beam Induced Current (EBIC) is a scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imaging mode that localizes regions of Fermi level transition. EBIC is primarily used to localize buried diffusions and semiconductor defects. Minority carrier diffusion lengths and lifetimes have also been measured using EBIC, but these measurements very rarely apply to failure analysis. EBIC images are produced by monitoring the nonrandom recombination current of the electron-hole-pairs generated when an electron beam is scanned across a semiconductor. The recombination current may be increased or decreased by biasing the IC. Additional testing information can be useful in selecting the optimum conditions for performing EBIC.
