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Characterization Techniques

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Semiconductors

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Abstract

The present chapter introduces the most frequently used techniques to characterize the traditional materials, thin films, or semiconductors at the nanoscale. These techniques can be divided into electrical, optical, structural, and compositional characterization methods. The electrical analysis can be performed by applying either direct or alternating current. Key parameters to determine are carrier mobility and concentration, resistivity/conductivity, type of conductivity, current–voltage dependence, among others. Optical characterization is performed using UV-visible absorption spectroscopy and its importance relies in that it can bring to light features not revealed by other analysis such as bandgap, thickness of thin films, to name some. Since the structure is related to its physical properties and its performance during application, it is mandatory to determine its characteristics using direct or indirect methods such as X-ray diffractometry, electron diffractometry, scanning electron microscopy, scanning tunneling microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy is a relatively simple surface analysis technique that can not only identify the type of elements in the material but also provide information related to the chemical states of those elements. In recent years, it has been successfully used in the study of nanomaterials.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, San Nicolás de los Garza, Mexico

    Marla Berenice Hernández Hernández, Josué A. Aguilar-Martínez, Bindu Krishnan & Sadasivan Shaji

  2. Universidad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Mexico

    Mario Alberto García-Ramírez

  3. University of Michigan–Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China

    Yaping Dan

Authors
  1. Marla Berenice Hernández Hernández
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  2. Mario Alberto García-Ramírez
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  3. Yaping Dan
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  4. Josué A. Aguilar-Martínez
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  5. Bindu Krishnan
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  6. Sadasivan Shaji
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Josué A. Aguilar-Martínez .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional—Unidad Saltillo—Ingeniería Cerámica, Ramos Arizpe, Coahuila, Mexico

    Martin I. Pech-Canul

  2. Department of Physics, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ, USA

    Nuggehalli M. Ravindra

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Hernández Hernández, M.B., García-Ramírez, M.A., Dan, Y., Aguilar-Martínez, J.A., Krishnan, B., Shaji, S. (2019). Characterization Techniques. In: Pech-Canul, M., Ravindra, N. (eds) Semiconductors. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02171-9_3

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