Non-contact mapping of heavy metal contamination for silicon IC fabrication

The authors present the principles and application examples of a recently refined, computerised, surface photovoltage (SPV) method. This new method is capable of wafer-scale, non-contact mapping of metal contaminants in the bulk and on the surface with sensitivities as high at 10 10 atoms cm -3 . They demonstrate the unique ability of SPV to measure product wafers with finished integrated circuits.