Gate oxide reliability at the nanoscale evaluated by combining conductive atomic force microscopy and constant voltage stress

2011 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 01AB08 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Erlbacher ◽  
V. Yanev ◽  
M. Rommel ◽  
A. J. Bauer ◽  
L. Frey
Keyword(s):  
Atomic Force Microscopy ◽  
Gate Oxide ◽  
Constant Voltage ◽  
Conductive Atomic Force Microscopy ◽  
Force Microscopy ◽  
Atomic Force ◽  
Oxide Reliability ◽  
Voltage Stress

Gate Oxide Defect Localization and Analysis by Using Conductive Atomic Force Microscopy

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. H. Lee ◽  
C. J. Lin ◽  
S. W. Lai ◽  
J. H. Chou
Keyword(s):  
Atomic Force Microscopy ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Gate Oxide ◽  
Wet Etching ◽  
Conductive Atomic Force Microscopy ◽  
Force Microscopy ◽  
Atomic Force ◽  
Defect Localization ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Voltage Contrast

Abstract This paper describes gate oxide defect localization and analysis using passive voltage contrast (PVC) and conductive atomic force microscopy (C-AFM) in a real product through two case studies. In this paper, 10% wt KOH was used to etch poly-Si and expose gate oxide. In the case studies, different types of gate oxide defects will cause different leakage paths. According to the I-V curve measured by C-AFM, we can distinguish between short mode and gate oxide related leakage. For gate oxide leakage, KOH wet etching was successfully used to identify the gate oxide pinholes.

Fault Isolation of MOL and FEOL Buried Defects Using Conductive Atomic Force Microscopy as a Complement to Passive Voltage Contrast Imaging

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucile C. Teague Sheridan ◽  
Linda Conohan ◽  
Chong Khiam Oh
Keyword(s):  
Atomic Force Microscopy ◽  
Cmos Technology ◽  
Fault Isolation ◽  
Contrast Imaging ◽  
Conductive Atomic Force Microscopy ◽  
Isolation Technique ◽  
Conductive Afm ◽  
Force Microscopy ◽  
Atomic Force ◽  
Voltage Contrast

Abstract Atomic force microscopy (AFM) methods have provided a wealth of knowledge into the topographic, electrical, mechanical, magnetic, and electrochemical properties of surfaces and materials at the micro- and nanoscale over the last several decades. More specifically, the application of conductive AFM (CAFM) techniques for failure analysis can provide a simultaneous view of the conductivity and topographic properties of the patterned features. As CMOS technology progresses to smaller and smaller devices, the benefits of CAFM techniques have become apparent [1-3]. Herein, we review several cases in which CAFM has been utilized as a fault-isolation technique to detect middle of line (MOL) and front end of line (FEOL) buried defects in 20nm technologies and beyond.

Fault Localization in Contact Level by Using Conductive Atomic Force Microscopy

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon C. Lee ◽  
J. H. Chuang
Keyword(s):  
Atomic Force Microscopy ◽  
Integrated Circuits ◽  
Fault Localization ◽  
Electrical Characterization ◽  
Conductive Atomic Force Microscopy ◽  
Force Microscopy ◽  
Atomic Force ◽  
Optical Electron ◽  
Defect Isolation ◽  
Voltage Contrast

Abstract As integrated circuits (IC) have become more complicated with device features shrinking into the deep sub-micron range, so the challenge of defect isolation has become more difficult. Many failure analysis (FA) techniques using optical/electron beam and scanning probe microscopy (SPM) have been developed to improve the capability of defect isolation. SPM provides topographic imaging coupled with a variety of material characterization information such as thermal, magnetic, electric, capacitance, resistance and current with nano-meter scale resolution. Conductive atomic force microscopy (C-AFM) has been widely used for electrical characterization of dielectric film and gate oxide integrity (GOI). In this work, C-AFM has been successfully employed to isolate defects in the contact level and to discriminate various contact types. The current mapping of C-AFM has the potential to identify micro-leaky contacts better than voltage contrast (VC) imaging in SEM. It also provides I/V information that is helpful to diagnose the failure mechanism by comparing I/V curves of different contact types. C-AFM is able to localize faulty contacts with pico-amp current range and to characterize failure with nano-meter scale lateral resolution. C-AFM should become an important technique for IC fault localization. FA examples of this technique will be discussed in the article.

Imaging and nanoprobing of graphene layers for interconnects by conductive atomic force microscopy

2015 ◽  
Vol 54 (5S) ◽  
pp. 05EB02 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Zhang ◽  
Masayuki Katagiri ◽  
Taishi Ishikura ◽  
Makoto Wada ◽  
Hisao Miyazaki ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Atomic Force Microscopy ◽  
Conductive Atomic Force Microscopy ◽  
Graphene Layers ◽  
Force Microscopy ◽  
Atomic Force
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