TEM Sample Preparation by Single-Sided Low-Energy Ion Beam Etching

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liew Kaeng Nan ◽  
Lee Meng Lung
Keyword(s):  
Sample Preparation ◽  
Semiconductor Device ◽  
Ion Beam ◽  
Critical Dimension ◽  
Low Energy ◽  
Ex Situ ◽  
Good Image Quality ◽  
Ion Beam Etching ◽  
Device Structures ◽  
Common Technique

Abstract Conventional FIB ex-situ lift-out is the most common technique for TEM sample preparation. However, the scaling of semiconductor device structures poses great challenge to the method since the critical dimension of device becomes smaller than normal TEM sample thickness. In this paper, a technique combining 30 keV FIB milling and 3 keV ion beam etching is introduced to prepare the TEM specimen. It can be used by existing FIBs that are not equipped with low-energy ion beam. By this method, the overlapping pattern can be eliminated while maintaining good image quality.

scholarly journals Ex-Situ "Auto Lift" Technique for TEM Sample Preparation

2005 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 40-41
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscope ◽  
Sample Preparation ◽  
Focused Ion Beam ◽  
Semiconductor Device ◽  
Ion Beam ◽  
Ex Situ ◽  
Specimen Preparation ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Dual Column ◽  
Microprocessor Industry

"The most advantageous feature of the ex-situ lift out method is throughput."A great deal of emphasis is placed on "throughput" in the microprocessor industry. Wafer sizes are getting larger and the costs of building them have increased astronomically. The transmission electron microscope (TEM) has become the essential tool for examining current microprocessor products. The TEM can only be effective if it has properly prepared specimens to put into it. In order to achieve the highest specimen preparation spatial resolution, the microprocessor industry has turned to focused ion beam (FIB) tools, either single or dual column, for TEM specimen preparation in applications ranging from process control to failure analysis, and on to semiconductor device metrology.

Chemical Precursors for GaAs Etching with low Energy ion Beams: Chlorine adsorption on GaAs(100)

1991 ◽  
Vol 223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard B. Jackman ◽  
Glenn C. Tyrrell ◽  
Duncan Marshall ◽  
Catherine L. French ◽  
John S. Foord
Keyword(s):  
Ion Beam ◽  
Ion Beams ◽  
Low Energy ◽  
Ion Beam Etching ◽  
Chlorine Adsorption

ABSTRACTThis paper addresses the issue of chlorine adsorption on GaAs(100) with respect to the mechanisms of thermal and ion-enhanced etching. The use of halogenated precursors eg. dichloroethane is also discussed in regard to chemically assisted ion beam etching (CAIBE).

scholarly journals In Situ Delineation Etch Reveals Subtle Detail in SEM Images of Ion Milled Cross Sections Enabling In-Fab 3-D Metrology and Characterization

2000 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 36-39
Author(s):  
Clive Chandler
Keyword(s):  
Sample Preparation ◽  
Cross Sections ◽  
Focused Ion Beam ◽  
Ion Beam ◽  
Automated System ◽  
Sem Images ◽  
Difficult Time ◽  
Device Structures ◽  
Wet Etch ◽  
Conventional Sample

Control of layer thickness is critically important in the manufacture of semiconductor devices. Cross-sectioning exposes device structures for direct examination but conventional sample preparation procedures are difficult, time consuming, and grossly destructive. Cross sections created by focused ion beam (FIB) milling are easier, faster, and less destructive but have not offered the clear layer delineation provided by etching in the conventional sample preparation process. A new gas etch capability (Delineation Etch™ from FEI Company) offers results that are equivalent to conventional wet-etch preparations in a fraction of the time from a single, automated system in the fab without destroying the wafer. The new etch process also has application in milling high-aspect-ratio holes to create contacts to buried metal layers, and in deprocessing devices to reveal silicon and polysilicon structures.

Focused Ion Beam Etching of Nanometer-Size GaN/AlGaN Device Structures and their Optical Characterization by Micro-Photoluminescence/Raman Mapping

1999 ◽  
Vol 595 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Kuball ◽  
M. Benyoucef ◽  
F.H. Morrissey ◽  
C.T. Foxon
Keyword(s):  
Field Effect Transistor ◽  
Focused Ion Beam ◽  
Ion Beam ◽  
Device Structure ◽  
Ion Beam Etching ◽  
Nanometer Size ◽  
Nano Fabrication ◽  
Micro Raman Spectroscopy ◽  
Device Structures ◽  
Effect Transistor

AbstractWe report on the nano-fabrication of GaN/AlGaN device structures using focused ion beam (FIB) etching, illustrated on a GaN/AlGaN heterostructure field effect transistor (HFET). Pillars as small as 20nm to 300nm in diameter were fabricated from the GaN/AlGaN HFET. Micro-photoluminescence and UV micro-Raman maps were recorded from the FIB-etched pattern to assess its material quality. Photoluminescence was detected from 300nm-size GaN/AlGaN HFET pillars, i.e., from the AlGaN as well as the GaN layers in the device structure, despite the induced etch damage. Properties of the GaN and the AlGaN layers in the FIB-etched areas were mapped using UV Micro-Raman spectroscopy. Damage introduced by FIB-etching was assessed. The fabricated nanometer-size GaN/AlGaN structures were found to be of good quality. The results demonstrate the potential of FIB-etching for the nano-fabrication of III-V nitride devices.

Smoothing of polycrystalline Cu(In,Ga)(Se,S)2 thin films by low-energy ion-beam etching

1999 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 793-798 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Frost ◽  
G. Lippold ◽  
K. Otte ◽  
D. Hirsch ◽  
A. Schindler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Thin Films ◽  
Ion Beam ◽  
Low Energy ◽  
Ion Beam Etching

scholarly journals Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy for Critical Dimension Monitoring in Wafer Manufacturing

2008 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haifeng Wang ◽  
Jason Fang ◽  
Jason Arjavac ◽  
Rudy Kellner
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Transmission Electron Microscopy ◽  
Data Storage ◽  
Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy ◽  
Ion Beam ◽  
Critical Dimension ◽  
Ex Situ ◽  
Scanning Transmission Electron ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Scanning Transmission

Automated scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) metrology provides critical dimension (CD) measurements an order of magnitude more precise than comparable scanning electron microscopy (SEM) measurements. New developments in automation now also provide throughput and response time sufficient to support high volume microelectronic manufacturing processes. The newly developed methodology includes automated, focused ion beam (FIB) based sample preparation; innovative, ex-situ sample extraction; and automated metrology. Although originally developed to control the production of thin film magnetic heads for data storage, the technique is fully applicable to any wafer-based manufacturing process.

Low energy ion beam etching of CuInSe2 surfaces

1999 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Otte ◽  
G. Lippold ◽  
F. Frost ◽  
A. Schindler ◽  
F. Bigl ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ion Beam ◽  
Low Energy ◽  
Ion Beam Etching

Localization of Electrically Active Extended Defects in GaN Using a DualBeam FIB

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Nshanian ◽  
B. Tracy ◽  
H. Ho
Keyword(s):  
Sample Preparation ◽  
Focused Ion Beam ◽  
Piezoelectric Materials ◽  
Ion Beam ◽  
Low Energy ◽  
Threading Dislocations ◽  
Extended Defects ◽  
Electrical Fields ◽  
Low Energy Ions ◽  
Piezoelectric Charge

Abstract The Dual Focused Ion Beam (DFIB has been used to expose electrical fields associated with the charge of electrically active extended defects (ED) – (e.g. threading dislocations - TDs) in GaN structures. The localized electrical fields above electrically active defects in piezoelectric materials are shown to capture sputtered low energy ions, turning them back toward the surface and redepositing them on top of defects (TDs), forming Gallium-rich islands. This “Ga droplet” decorates EDs and significantly simplifies the process of locating EDs for TEM sample preparation and analyses. The size and shape of the Ga islands is correlated with the accumulated piezoelectric charge density at the EDs.

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