Direct Nanoscale Sensing of the Internal Electric Field in Operating Semiconductor Devices Using Single Electron Spins

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.