Anodic Etching of Defects in P-Type Silicon

A new etching technique for p-type Si has been developed which combines the advantages of chemical etching and EBIC. The method is electrochemical in nature and the silicon sample is biased as the anode in an electrochemical cell. The etching behavior of defects is governed by the magnitude of the applied voltage. At low voltages only electronically active defects are etched and the etching pattern corresponds to an EBIC image of the same area. At higher voltages all defects are etched and the etching behavior resembles chemical etching. The method offers considerable advantages as compared to EBIC and chemical etching. © 1980, The Electrochemical Society, Inc. All rights reserved.