Integrated circuits and certain silicon-based quantum devices require the precise positioning of dopant nanostructures, and hydrogen resist lithography can be used to fabricate such structures at the atomic-scale limit. However, there is no single technique capable of measuring the three-dimensional location and electrical characteristics of these dopant nanostructures, as well as the charge dynamics of carriers and trapped charges in their vicinity. Here, we show that broadband electrostatic force microscopy can be used for non-destructive carrier profiling of atomically thin n-type (phosphorus) and p-type (boron) dopant layers in silicon, and their resulting p–n junctions. The probe has a lateral resolution of 10 nm and a vertical resolution of 0.5 nm, and detects the capacitive signature of subsurface charges in a broad 1 kHz to 10 GHz frequency range. This allows the bias-dependent charge dynamics of free electrons in conducting channels and trapped charges in oxide–silicon interfaces to be investigated.

集成电路和某些基于硅的量子器件需要对掺杂剂纳米结构进行精确定位，并且可以使用氢抗蚀剂光刻技术在原子尺度上制造这种结构。然而，没有单一的技术能够测量这些掺杂剂纳米结构的三维位置和电特性，以及载流子和附近电荷的电荷动态。在这里，我们表明宽带静电力显微镜可用于硅中原子薄的n型（磷）和p型（硼）掺杂剂层及其所形成的p–n结的无损载流子分析。探头的横向分辨率为10 nm，垂直分辨率为0.5 nm，并在1 kHz至10 GHz宽频率范围内检测地下电荷的电容特征。这使得可以研究导电通道中自由电子与偏压相关的电荷动力学以及氧化物-硅界面中的俘获电荷。