Electron-beam-induced conductivity in thin insulating films

A review of electron-beam-induced conductivity (EBIC) in insulating solids is presented. Initially, some of the main observed features of EBIC are described. Subsequently, the development from these earlier observations of a plausible, quantitative model for EBIC is traced and recent improvements to the theory noted. In the model, the beam is assumed to form a highly ionised 'photoconductive' region in the solid, which forms a space-charge-limited, injecting contact to the regions of the sample lying beyond the penetration depth of the beam. Numerical calculations based on the theory show that, by a suitable choice of parameters, excellent agreement between experiment and theory can be obtained. Estimates of effective charge carrier mobilities can be made. (author)