Automate DLTS with the MFIA

DLTS is a powerful and commonly used technique to measure semiconductor devices giving information on the type and density of defects in the sample. A DLTS measurement setup requires a cryostat or thermal stage and a means of measuring capacitance of the sample fast enough to capture the transients resulting from the displacement of defects or charges as they return to equilibrium after a voltage pulse is applied. The MFIA impedance analyzer (and MFLI with MF-IA option) plays a key role at the heart of home-built DLTS systems thanks to offering capacitance measurements on a fast timescale with advanced triggering. The flexibility of the MFIA allows for new types of DLTS to be enabled, such as low frequency DLTS, current transients and also offers impedance spectroscopy as a complementary technique.

This blog post presents a short review of recent published work from MFIA users, Adrian Kaim and Katarzyna Gwozdz at the Wroclaw University of Science and Technology in Poland. The authors have developed a LabVIEW program to allow for automation of the MFIA to acquire DLTS data. This code enables any user of the MFIA or MFLI (with MF-IA option) to measure transients as a function of temperature in a neat package called myDLTS, as shown in figure 1. It takes advantage of the LabVIEW API included as standard on the MFIA (just one of five APIs included with the MFIA).

The software exploits the high performance of the MFIA and provides the tools for DLTS, including transient acquisition, C-V and I-V measurements, and stores the DLTS data in an intuitive and compact way. For DLTS, it is a useful alternative to the LabOne user interface as it brings the relevant controls together in one compact user interface.

The authors have made the software available, as described in this publication in the Elsevier journal SoftwareX. The paper includes a link to the code and a helpful video. I would like to thank the authors for developing and providing this code, allowing MFIA users to automate their DLTS experiments in an efficient and compact way.

Please note, this software, myDLTS, is the property of the authors, and for any support or questions about the software please contact the authors directly. For other general support questions for the MFIA, please get in touch directly with us at Zurich Instruments.

The MFIA is used by many groups across the world for advanced DLTS measurements, and if you would like to learn more, please contact us directly for a demo or take a look at the recordings from the 3rd DLTS User meeting where users of the MFIA meet to discuss the latest developments and share results.