Proceedings of the 14th Conference, April 11–14, 2005, Oxford, UK
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As well the universal usage for SEM and TEM cross-sectional sample preparation, modern FIBs have other applications which make them extremely suitable for semiconductor device analysis. Foremost amongst these is the ability to modify existing IC circuitry. Particular attention will be paid to circuit modification of the latest generation of devices where the use of copper interconnects requires the...
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A method is proposed for the three dimensional physical failure analysis of electronic devices. A micro-sampling technique was employed for extraction of a piece of sample from a defective cell. The extracted sample was shaped into a pillar and mounted on the tip of a needled specimen stub. Physical failure analysis of the sample was then performed using a dedicated focused ion beam (FIB) — scanning...
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Two nominally identical series of pseudomorphic Si/Si0.64Ge0.36/Si p-channel MOSFET devices from adjacent locations of the same wafer were found to have radically different gate threshold voltages. Focused ion beam milling and transmission electron microscopy was employed to determine the structural differences between the devices from these two regions. Significant structural anomalies were found...
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A special FIB-Ar ion milling method is applied, which utilizes a newly designed Cu grid with a thin metal foil for FIB micro-sampling, in order to remove FIB-damaged layers of site-specific regions in III-V semiconductor materials, including GaN, GaAs, AlGaAs, InP and InGaAs. It allows drastic reduction of the FIB-damaged layers to enable observation of clear HRTEM images. Based on cross-sectional...
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In this study, we shall present focused ion beam micromachining methods applied to facet modification and improvement in GaN-based laser devices. A 30 keV Ga+ ion beam was rastered over the GaN mirror facets. However, some redeposition occurred during processing. Therefore, we also improved the fabrication step by introducing gas-enhanced etching methods during ion beam milling.
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We demonstrate a two dimensional photonic crystal microcavity structure fabricated via focused ion beam (FIB) micro-machining techniques. The FIB, with the Ga ion beam directly rastered over a planar organic material, drilled small holes in a lattice configuration. The microcavity was created within the photonic crystal by a series of point defects giving an hexagonal feature in order to confine light...
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Degraded heterojunction bipolar transistors were characterized regarding their structural and chemical properties by transmission electron microscopy. Electron transparent cross-sections of the HBTs were prepared applying the focused ion beam technique. Diffraction contrast dark-field imaging revealed the coupling between drastic degradation and formation and propagation of dislocations originating...
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Large angle convergent beam electron diffraction (LACBED) patterns recorded of trenches in silicon devices were compared with simulated LACBED patterns to determine the strain in the structure. Displacement fields stemming from stress simulations of a 2D device simulator (TSUPREM IV) were used as an input for the LACBED simulations. The LACBED far-fields are very well reproduced by the simulations...
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A bipolar transistor with a silicon-germanium base (HBT) was prepared by the focused ion beam technique for TEM-cross-sectioning, taking into account the special requirements of electron holography. A line plot from the phase image through the functional region includes the influences of different dopant content as well as different germanium concentrations on the mean inner potential. Interpretation...
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This paper discusses a novel technique using locally restricted Ar sputter for sample preparation, called ASSM, to overcome charging during AES analysis of polyimide surrounded bond pads. Subsequently, using Ar ion flooding, charging can be effortlessly reduced. Comparison of four anti-charging methods shows that ASSM has the advantage of obtaining reliable data easier than the others. It is suggested...
