Recent Developments in Mechanical Specimen Preparation for Tem and Sem Applications

1999 ◽  
Vol 5 (S2) ◽  
pp. 932-933
Author(s):  
W. Li ◽  
S. Q. Wang ◽  
R. Trussell ◽  
M. Xu ◽  
R.D. Venables ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Integrated Circuits ◽  
Sample Preparation ◽  
Ion Beam ◽  
Wedge Angle ◽  
Specimen Preparation ◽  
Precise Control ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Polishing Tool

The continued reduction in the size of critical features in integrated circuits has resulted in the need to develop rapid, site-specific, sectioning techniques to enable efficient physical characterization of the structures of interest. We have implemented a mechanical polishing approach to achieve this objective with the additional goals of maximizing the number of targeted sites in a sample that can be analyzed, and minimizing physically destructive procedures, such as ion beam exposure. Precision sample preparation approaches have been under investigation for both transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy.The mechanical specimen preparation approach used in this work is a variant of the well-known wedge polishing technique. Here we use a polishing tool that does not contact the grinding surface, thus allowing precise control of the wedge angle. Prior to sample preparation, the polishing tool head was precision aligned parallel to the platen.

A Methodology to Reduce Ion Beam Induced Damage in TEM Specimens Prepared by FIB

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chin Kai Liu ◽  
Chi Jen. Chen ◽  
Jeh Yan.Chiou ◽  
David Su
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Transmission Electron Microscopy ◽  
Sample Preparation ◽  
Integrated Circuit ◽  
Focused Ion Beam ◽  
Ion Beam ◽  
Specimen Preparation ◽  
Tem Analysis ◽  
Sensitive Issue ◽  
Transmission Electron

Abstract Focused ion beam (FIB) has become a useful tool in the Integrated Circuit (IC) industry, It is playing an important role in Failure Analysis (FA), circuit repair and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) specimen preparation. In particular, preparation of TEM samples using FIB has become popular within the last ten years [1]; the progress in this field is well documented. Given the usefulness of FIB, “Artifact” however is a very sensitive issue in TEM inspections. The ability to identify those artifacts in TEM analysis is an important as to understanding the significance of pictures In this paper, we will describe how to measure the damages introduced by FIB sample preparation and introduce a better way to prevent such kind of artifacts.

Perfect TEM Membranes by focused ion beams: A stress reduction technique

1996 ◽  
Vol 54 ◽  
pp. 1030-1031
Author(s):  
John F. Walker ◽  
James K. Odum ◽  
Peter D. Carleson
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Integrated Circuits ◽  
Sample Preparation ◽  
Stress Reduction ◽  
Focused Ion Beam ◽  
Process Analysis ◽  
Ion Beam ◽  
Critical Dimensions ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Preparation Techniques

With the realisation that the critical dimensions in integrated circuits are shrinking to the point where scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques are not sufficiently accurate for many applications, advanced semiconductor fabs are looking to the increased resolution and analytical functionality of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) in failure and process analysis. TEM sample preparation is traditionally labour-intensive and needs skilled technical support but, with the acceptance of focused ion beam (FIB) workstations, this preparation and subsequent analysis is now becoming more routine. The reasons are: more reliable preparation with less risk of catastrophic breaking on unique specimens, highly site-specific preparation capable of viewing individual, sub-100 nm features, thin and uniform membranes even with tungsten plugs, and fast and easy preparation techniques.The initial stages of sample preparation involves preparing a sub-100 um sliver mounted on a TEM grid. When mounting this sliver on the grid, care must be taken to prevent any strain from being transferred to the silicon.

TEM Sample Preparation Tricks for Advanced DRAMs

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ching Shan Sung ◽  
Hsiu Ting Lee ◽  
Jian Shing Luo
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Transmission Electron Microscopy ◽  
Sample Preparation ◽  
Integrated Circuit ◽  
Focused Ion Beam ◽  
Ion Beam ◽  
Tem Analysis ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Characterization Of Materials

Abstract Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) plays an important role in the structural analysis and characterization of materials for process evaluation and failure analysis in the integrated circuit (IC) industry as device shrinkage continues. It is well known that a high quality TEM sample is one of the keys which enables to facilitate successful TEM analysis. This paper demonstrates a few examples to show the tricks on positioning, protection deposition, sample dicing, and focused ion beam milling of the TEM sample preparation for advanced DRAMs. The micro-structures of the devices and samples architectures were observed by using cross sectional transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and optical microscopy. Following these tricks can help readers to prepare TEM samples with higher quality and efficiency.

Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) Specimen Preparation Technique using Focused Ion Beam (FIB): Application to Material Characterization of Chemical Vapor Deposition of Tungsten (W) and Tungsten Silicides (WSix)

1997 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Doong ◽  
J.-M. Fu ◽  
Y.-C. Huang
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Transmission Electron Microscopy ◽  
Chemical Vapor Deposition ◽  
Vapor Deposition ◽  
Focused Ion Beam ◽  
Ion Beam ◽  
Chemical Vapor ◽  
Specimen Preparation ◽  
Preparation Technique ◽  
Transmission Electron

Abstract The specimen preparation technique using focused ion beam (FIB) to generate cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (XTEM) samples of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of Tungsten-plug (W-plug) and Tungsten Silicides (WSix) was studied. Using the combination method including two axes tilting[l], gas enhanced focused ion beam milling[2] and sacrificial metal coating on both sides of electron transmission membrane[3], it was possible to prepare a sample with minimal thickness (less than 1000 A) to get high spatial resolution in TEM observation. Based on this novel thinning technique, some applications such as XTEM observation of W-plug with different aspect ratio (I - 6), and the grain structure of CVD W-plug and CVD WSix were done. Also the problems and artifacts of XTEM sample preparation of high Z-factor material such as CVD W-plug and CVD WSix were given and the ways to avoid or minimize them were suggested.

Transmission Electron Microscopy of Semiconductor Based Products

1998 ◽  
Vol 523 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Mardinly ◽  
David W. Susnitzky
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Transmission Electron Microscopy ◽  
Ion Beam ◽  
Semiconductor Industry ◽  
Size Reduction ◽  
Specimen Preparation ◽  
Specimen Thickness ◽  
Ion Milling ◽  
Feature Size ◽  
Transmission Electron

AbstractThe demand for increasingly higher performance semiconductor products has stimulated the semiconductor industry to respond by producing devices with increasingly complex circuitry, more transistors in less space, more layers of metal, dielectric and interconnects, more interfaces, and a manufacturing process with nearly 1,000 steps. As all device features are shrunk in the quest for higher performance, the role of Transmission Electron Microscopy as a characterization tool takes on a continually increasing importance over older, lower-resolution characterization tools, such as SEM. The Ångstrom scale imaging resolution and nanometer scale chemical analysis and diffraction resolution provided by modem TEM's are particularly well suited for solving materials problems encountered during research, development, production engineering, reliability testing, and failure analysis. A critical enabling technology for the application of TEM to semiconductor based products as the feature size shrinks below a quarter micron is advances in specimen preparation. The traditional 1,000Å thick specimen will be unsatisfactory in a growing number of applications. It can be shown using a simple geometrical model, that the thickness of TEM specimens must shrink as the square root of the feature size reduction. Moreover, the center-targeting of these specimens must improve so that the centertargeting error shrinks linearly with the feature size reduction. To meet these challenges, control of the specimen preparation process will require a new generation of polishing and ion milling tools that make use of high resolution imaging to control the ion milling process. In addition, as the TEM specimen thickness shrinks, the thickness of surface amorphization produced must also be reduced. Gallium focused ion beam systems can produce hundreds of Ångstroms of amorphised surface silicon, an amount which can consume an entire thin specimen. This limitation to FIB milling requires a method of removal of amorphised material that leaves no artifact in the remaining material.

A model for the composite nanostructure of bone suggested by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy

2003 ◽  
Vol 67 (6) ◽  
pp. 1171-1182 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. A. Cressey ◽  
G. Cressey
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Transmission Electron Microscopy ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Preparation Method ◽  
Ion Beam ◽  
Human Bone ◽  
Specimen Preparation ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Ancient Bone ◽  
Close Analogue

AbstractWe have imaged the spatially-preserved microtexture of biogenic apatite, retained together with its collagen template, in non-demineralized human bone using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Using ion-beam thinning, a specimen preparation method generally employed for inorganic minerals rather than for biological materials, we have imaged a composite nanostructure of bone not previously reported, and we propose a model for this nano-architecture that involves a boxconstruction of apatite plates and apatite sheets. This observation provides a new understanding of bone strength at the nanometre scale and suggests how post mortem enhancement of this texture by recrystallization probably accounts for the durability of ancient bone. Modern sheep bone (a close analogue for recently dead human bone) imaged in the same way also shows evidence of this composite architecture.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document