The doctoral dissertations of the former Helsinki University of Technology (TKK) and Aalto University Schools of Technology (CHEM, ELEC, ENG, SCI) published in electronic format are available in the electronic publications archive of Aalto University - Aaltodoc.
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Characterization Methods for Silicon Photodiode and Silicon Sub-Surface Properties

Atte Haapalinna

Dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Science in Technology to be presented with due permission of the Department of Electrical and Communications Engineering for public examination and debate in Auditorium S4 at Helsinki University of Technology (Espoo, Finland) on the 17th of December, 2004, at 12 o'clock noon.

Overview in PDF format (ISBN 951-22-7431-0)   [673 KB]
Dissertation is also available in print (ISBN 951-22-7430-2)

Abstract

This thesis considers the characterization of silicon photodiode and the applications of silicon photodiodes in precision metrology, and some aspects of the silicon material characterizations. Such material characterizations are required in the process of semiconductor device manufacturing, one example of which is the silicon photodiode manufacturing.

The motivation for the research on radiometry reported in this thesis has been the development of optical metrology at the Helsinki University of Technology (HUT). Most of the applications for this research are found in the UV-metrology. Importance of the UV-metrology arises from the environmental importance of accurate gauging of optical power at these wavelengths.

This thesis describes the derivation and experimental verification of simple mathematical models, based on Fresnel equations. These models have allowed significant reductions in the uncertainties of spectrophotometric and radiometric measurements, especially in the UV wavelengths. These measurements are carried out using silicon photodiode-based detection systems. The reductions achieved in the measurement uncertainties have been utilized in the detector-based realizations of optical quantities maintained as national standards at HUT.

The structure and operating principle of silicon photodiodes brings up the process of manufacturing of these devices, and the material characterizations required during this process. Novel methods in machining of silicon wafers for semiconductor industry pose new challenges for these characterizations. One such challenge is the need to characterize sub-surface damage in silicon wafers, induced by abrasive machining. The measurement of the sub-surface damage in silicon was the goal set for the work on materials characterization reported here. Various potential solutions to this requirement have been studied in this thesis, some of which are based on the spectrophotometric research carried out at HUT. Complete solution to this requirement has not been found. This thesis compares a number of promising methods and combines their respective advantages in order to create a more comprehensive understanding on the subject under study.

This thesis consists of an overview and of the following 8 publications:

  1. Haapalinna A., Manoochehri F. and Ikonen E., 1999. High-accuracy measurement of specular spectral reflectance and transmittance. Analytica Chimica Acta 380, numbers 2-3, pages 317-325.
  2. Haapalinna A., Nevas S., Manoochehri F. and Ikonen E., 2002. Precision spectrometer for measurement of specular reflectance. Review of Scientific Instruments 73, number 6, pages 2237-2242.
  3. Haapalinna A., Kärhä P. and Ikonen E., 1998. Spectral reflectance of silicon photodiodes. Applied Optics 37, number 4, pages 729-732.
  4. Haapalinna A., Kübarsepp T., Kärhä P. and Ikonen E., 1999. Measurement of the absolute linearity of photodetectors with a diode laser. Measurement Science and Technology 10, number 11, pages 1075-1078.
  5. Kübarsepp T., Haapalinna A., Kärhä P. and Ikonen E., 1998. Nonlinearity measurements of silicon photodetectors. Applied Optics 37, number 13, pages 2716-2722.
  6. Kärhä P., Haapalinna A., Toivanen P., Manoochehri F. and Ikonen E., 1998. Filter radiometry based on direct utilization of trap detectors. Metrologia 35, number 4, pages 255-259.
  7. Haapalinna A., Nevas S. and Pähler D., 2004. Rotational grinding of silicon wafers – sub-surface damage inspection. Materials Science and Engineering B 107, number 3, pages 321-331.
  8. Klocke F., Pähler D., Haapalinna A. and Jakob A., 2003. Rotational grinding is solution to surface damages. In: Proceedings of the SEMICON West 2003.

Errata of publication 7

Keywords: photodiode, silicon, radiometry, sub-surface damage, linearity, reflectance

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© 2004 Helsinki University of Technology

Last update 2011-05-26