A Theoretical Study on Van Der Pauw Measurement Values of Inhomogeneous Compound Semiconductor Thin Films

Abstract

The influence of intermixing heterogeneous regions that have different electrical properties from the base materials on van der Pauw measurement values was theoretically studied by computer simulation using the finite-element method. The measurement samples selected were thin films of inhomogeneous semiconductors. Calculated electrical properties, such as resistivity, carrier density, and mobility of the thin films, varied in predictable ways when heterogeneous regions were dispersed in wide ranges over the samples. On the other hand, the mobility of the thin films showed a different change when heterogeneous regions were locally concentrated in the measurement samples.