Determination of oxygen concentration in heavily doped silicon

A number of years ago secondary ion mass spectrometry was proposed as a viable technique to determine the oxygen content in low resistivity (<0.1 Ω cm) silicon substrates. Since then, significant advances have been made in analytical protocols and instrumentation specifically for the measurement of oxygen in silicon. This article focuses on recent improvements in measurement precision and sample throughput. Presently, precisions of <±2% can be obtained on a routine basis, and can be as good as ±1.4% in the most favorable circumstances. Sample throughput has been improved to 24 per 8 h per instrument during normal operations.