Evaluating nanoscale ultra-thin metal films by means of lateral photovoltaic effect in metal–semiconductor structure

Nanoscale metal–semiconductor (MS) structure materials occupy an important position in semiconductor and microelectronic field due to their abundant physical phenomena and effects. The thickness of metal films is a critical factor in determining characteristics of MS devices. How to detect or evaluate the metal thickness is always a key issue for realizing high performance MS devices. In this work, we propose a direct surface detection by use of the lateral photovoltaic effect (LPE) in MS structure, which can not only measure nanoscale thickness, but also detect the fluctuation of metal films. This method is based on the fact that the output of lateral photovoltaic voltage (LPV) is closely linked with the metal thickness at the laser spot. We believe this laser-based contact-free detection is a useful supplement to the traditional methods, such as AFM, SEM, TEM or step profiler. This is because these traditional methods are always incapable of directly detecting ultra-thin metal films in MS structure materials. (paper)