Abstract
Electronic insulators are an essential part of electronic circuits. To date, the present of defects in these insulators causes mal function and provoke reliability of electronic components. Therefore it is essential to identify and quantify the nature of space charge instigated by these defects. Existing techniques of characterisation of these defects appear to reach their limits. The thermal wave technique is capable of identifying and determining the space charge distribution through the whole thickness of the insulator. The adaptation of the method to very thin dielectric layers as well as analysing the results forms an essential part of the thesis. The proposed method allows obtaining the MOS structure's characteristic voltage, while performing a static analysis of the different regimes of the structure under investigation.