Data Acquisition and Processing Techniques for Voltage Contrast Measurements

Authors

F. A. DiBianca, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
D. G. Johnson, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
C. R. Bagnell, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
E. I. Cole, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
W. V. Oxford, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
R. H. Propst, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
C. A. Smith, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Abstract

The effects of several data acquisition techniques on the accuracy of voltage contrast measurements are studied. In particular, the effect of using a voltage reference region directly connected to an external voltage source in performing the image intensity-to-voltage mapping of a node whose voltage is to be determined is examined. This is found to allow improved voltage measurement. The actual reference curves were obtained by least squares fitting the measured intensity-voltage reference data alternately to a quadratic and a cubic function. In addition, various mapping algorithms are considered including ones based alternately on the use of unprocessed, subtracted and normalized data. Using these techniques, one should expect voltage errors with means of approximately 25 mV and standard deviations of approximately 160 mV even with an unmodified commercial SEM incorporating no additional hardware to increase precision.

Recommended Citation

DiBianca, F. A.; Johnson, D. G.; Bagnell, C. R.; Cole, E. I.; Oxford, W. V.; Propst, R. H.; and Smith, C. A. (1986) "Data Acquisition and Processing Techniques for Voltage Contrast Measurements," Scanning Electron Microscopy: Vol. 1986: No. 1, Article 6.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/electron/vol1986/iss1/6