title: Direct Nanoscale Sensing of the Internal Electric Field in Operating Semiconductor Devices Using Single Electron Spins.
abstract: The electric field inside semiconductor devices is a key physical parameter that determines the properties of the devices. However, techniques based on scanning probe microscopy are limited to sensing at the surface only. Here, we demonstrate the direct sensing of the internal electric field in diamond power devices using single nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers. The NV center embedded inside the device acts as a nanoscale electric field sensor. We fabricated vertical diamond p-i-n diodes containing the single NV centers. By performing optically detected magnetic resonance measurements under reverse-biased conditions with an applied voltage of up to 150 V, we found a large splitting in the magnetic resonance frequencies. This indicated that the NV center senses the transverse electric field in the space-charge region formed in the i-layer. The experimentally obtained electric field values are in good agreement with those calculated by a device simulator. Furthermore, we demonstrate the sensing of the electric field in different directions by utilizing NV centers with different N-V axes. This direct and quantitative sensing method using an electron spin in a wide-band-gap material provides a way to monitor the electric field in operating semiconductor devices.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology , Meguro, Tokyo 152-8552, Japan.|CREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency , Chiyoda, Tokyo 102-0076, Japan.
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-6319-7718
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Iwasaki
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology , Meguro, Tokyo 152-8552, Japan.
authors.forename: Wataru
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Naruki
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology , Meguro, Tokyo 152-8552, Japan.|CREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency , Chiyoda, Tokyo 102-0076, Japan.
authors.forename: Kosuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tahara
authors.affiliation: CREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency , Chiyoda, Tokyo 102-0076, Japan.|Advanced Power Electronics Research Center, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology , Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8568, Japan.
authors.forename: Toshiharu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Makino
authors.affiliation: CREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency , Chiyoda, Tokyo 102-0076, Japan.|Advanced Power Electronics Research Center, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology , Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8568, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiromitsu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.affiliation: CREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency , Chiyoda, Tokyo 102-0076, Japan.|Advanced Power Electronics Research Center, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology , Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8568, Japan.
authors.forename: Masahiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ogura
authors.affiliation: CREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency , Chiyoda, Tokyo 102-0076, Japan.|Advanced Power Electronics Research Center, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology , Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8568, Japan.
authors.forename: Daisuke
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Takeuchi
authors.affiliation: CREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency , Chiyoda, Tokyo 102-0076, Japan.|Advanced Power Electronics Research Center, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology , Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8568, Japan.
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamasaki
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology , Meguro, Tokyo 152-8552, Japan.|CREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency , Chiyoda, Tokyo 102-0076, Japan.
authors.forename: Mutsuko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hatano
keywords: diamond; nanoscale electric field sensing; nitrogen−vacancy center; semiconductor device; single electron spin