Determination of the local electric field strength by Energy dispersive Photon Emission Microscopy

Energy-dispersive Photon Emission Microscopy (PEM) allows the local electron temperature distribution to be characterized with high accuracy and sensitivity. The suitability and potential of this new technique for failure analysis and reliability investigation of semiconductor devices are demonstrated by the spatially resolved analysis of non-uniform breakdowns. With state-of-the-art devices in nanometer dimensions the charge carrier transport is analyzed in order to determine the electric field strength distribution.