6 May

May 6, 2020 (Santa Barbara, CA).  Oxford Instruments Asylum Research is pleased to announce the release of a new Scanning Capacitance Microscopy (SCM) accessory for its Cypher and Jupiter XR atomic force microscopes (AFMs). SCM is a powerful imaging technique that can map electric charge carrier locations, types (p-type vs. n-type), and relative dopant concentration in semiconductors and other samples. The newly designed Asylum Research SCM module offers significantly higher performance and capability than those available for the last 20+ years. Unlike those previous designs, it can measure not just differential capacitance (dC/dV) but capacitance, which is linearly correlated with dopant levels. It can also image >20× faster, producing high-quality datasets in as little as 10 seconds. Higher sensitivity improves spatial resolution and allows it to be used on a wider range of materials, including metals, insulators, and materials that do not form a native oxide layer.

“Scanning capacitance microscopy has been something of misnomer until now because conventional SCM can only measure differential capacitance (dC/dV) and not actual capacitance,” commented Dominic Paszkeicz, Director of Product at Oxford Instruments Asylum Research, “Asylum’s new SCM module changes that, directly mapping capacitance and making it simpler for users to interpret the results.”

Asylum Research AFMs are widely used across many different academic research and industrial applications. The Cypher AFM product line features the world’s fastest and highest resolution small-sample AFMs. The Jupiter XR is a large-sample AFM that can accommodate samples up to 200 millimeters in diameter and scan sizes up to 100 microns while still delivering ultra-high resolution and higher throughput, with typical images requiring <1 minute to acquire.

Image caption: Static random-access memory is a common test sample for SCM. Here, the four main SCM data channels, acquired over a 29 μm scan area, a) Topography, b) dC/dV amplitude, inversely related to dopant level, c) dC/dV phase, indicating dopant type (n-type vs. p-type), and d) Capacitance, linearly correlated with dopant level.

For more information see https://afm.oxinst.com/SCM