A Fast and Precise Specimen Preparation Technique for TEM Investigation of Prespecified Areas of Semiconductor Devices

1990 ◽  
Vol 199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albert Romano ◽  
Jan Vanhellemont ◽  
Hugo Bender
Keyword(s):  
Cross Section ◽  
Semiconductor Devices ◽  
Specimen Preparation ◽  
Preparation Technique ◽  
Ion Milling ◽  
Special Equipment ◽  
Plan View

ABSTRACTIn this paper we present a rapid and highly precise plan view and cross-section specimen preparation technique for the localized thinning of semiconductor devices for TEM investigation. No special equipment except the commercially available one is required. Crosssection preparation takes about 6 hours, while plan view takes about 4 hours. Prespecified areas of 0.6 μm wide and 10 μm long can easily be thinned with transparency for CTEM and HREM. Using an iterative ion milling procedure allows to scan a complete device in HREM.

Preparation of Large Thin Area Vlsi Tem Specimens by Dimpling With A “Flatting Tool”

1991 ◽  
Vol 254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen L. Humiston ◽  
Bryan M. Tracy ◽  
M. Lawrence ◽  
A. Dass
Keyword(s):  
Cross Section ◽  
Milling Time ◽  
Specimen Preparation ◽  
Preparation Technique ◽  
Ion Milling ◽  
Sampling Area ◽  
Preparation Methods

AbstractAn alternative VLSI TEM specimen preparation technique has been developed to produce 100μm diameter electron transparent thin area by using a conventional dimpler with a texmet padded ‘flatting tool’ for dimpling and a microcloth padded ‘flatting tool’ for polishing, followed by low angle ion milling. The advantages of this technique are a large sampling area and shorter milling times than conventional specimen preparation methods. In the following, we report the details of the modified dimpling technique. The improvements in available electron transparency, and a decrease in ion milling time are demonstrated with the preparation of planar and cross section VLSI device samples.

A Procedure for Cross Sectioning Specific Semiconductor Devices for Both SEM and TEM Analysis

1990 ◽  
Vol 199 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. P. Benedict ◽  
Ron Anderson ◽  
S. J. Klepeis ◽  
M. Chaker
Keyword(s):  
Cross Section ◽  
Semiconductor Devices ◽  
Sem Analysis ◽  
Total Thickness ◽  
Ion Milling ◽  
Tem Analysis ◽  
Plan View ◽  
Positive Side ◽  
Sem And Tem

ABSTRACTThe procedures described in this paper allow both SEM and TEM analysis to be performed on the same, device specific, semiconductor cross section. In order to accomplish this, a number of tools and fixtures have been constructed that allow the user to polish into the sample to a predetermined plane-of-polish, bisecting the device or feature of interest for SEM analysis. After SEM examination, the specimen is prepared for TEM analysis by first affixing a grid to the just-examined surface, inverting the specimen and parallel-polishing the backside of the specimen until the specimen's total thickness is in the 0.5 to 1.0μm range using the described tools. A subsequent one to ten minute ion milling step cleans the specimen. A very considerable positive side-effectof this method is the nearelimination of artifacts arisingfrom the use of strong chemicals and lengthy ion milling. The method has been extended to the preparation of plan-view device samples and non-semiconductor specimens.

scholarly journals Having Your Cake and Eating It Too: A Procedure for Obtaining Plan View and Cross Section TEM Images from the Same Site

2005 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.B. Irwin ◽  
A. Anciso ◽  
P.J. Jones ◽  
C. Patton
Keyword(s):  
Sample Preparation ◽  
Cross Section ◽  
Focused Ion Beam ◽  
Bulk Material ◽  
Ion Beam ◽  
Preparation Technique ◽  
Ion Milling ◽  
Plan View ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Final Sample

Sample preparation for Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) is usually performed such that the final sample orientation is either a cross section or a plan view of the bulk material, as shown schematically in Figure 1. The object of any sample preparation technique, for either of these two orientations, is to thin a selected volume of the sample from its initial bulk state to electron transparency, ~ 100nm thick. In doing so, the final sample must be mechanically stable, vacuum compatible, and, most of all, unchanged from the initial bulk material. Many techniques have been used to achieve this goal: cleaving, sawing, mechanical polishing, chemical etching, ion milling, focused ion beam (FIB) milling, and many others.

A technique for preparing semiconductor cross sections for both TEM and SEM analysis

1989 ◽  
Vol 47 ◽  
pp. 712-713
Author(s):  
Stanley J. Klepeis ◽  
J.P. Benedict ◽  
R.M Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Sample Preparation ◽  
Cross Section ◽  
Cross Sections ◽  
Sem Analysis ◽  
Preparation Technique ◽  
Ion Milling ◽  
Tem Analysis ◽  
Polished Cross Section ◽  
Area Of Interest ◽  
Polished Side

The ability to prepare a cross-section of a specific semiconductor structure for both SEM and TEM analysis is vital in characterizing the smaller, more complex devices that are now being designed and manufactured. In the past, a unique sample was prepared for either SEM or TEM analysis of a structure. In choosing to do SEM, valuable and unique information was lost to TEM analysis. An alternative, the SEM examination of thinned TEM samples, was frequently made difficult by topographical artifacts introduced by mechanical polishing and lengthy ion-milling. Thus, the need to produce a TEM sample from a unique,cross-sectioned SEM sample has produced this sample preparation technique.The technique is divided into an SEM and a TEM sample preparation phase. The first four steps in the SEM phase: bulk reduction, cleaning, gluing and trimming produces a reinforced sample with the area of interest in the center of the sample. This sample is then mounted on a special SEM stud. The stud is inserted into an L-shaped holder and this holder is attached to the Klepeis polisher (see figs. 1 and 2). An SEM cross-section of the sample is then prepared by mechanically polishing the sample to the area of interest using the Klepeis polisher. The polished cross-section is cleaned and the SEM stud with the attached sample, is removed from the L-shaped holder. The stud is then inserted into the ion-miller and the sample is briefly milled (less than 2 minutes) on the polished side. The sample on the stud may then be carbon coated and placed in the SEM for analysis.

Cutting-Edge Sample Preparation from FIB to Ar Concentrated Ion Beam Milling of Advanced Semiconductor Devices

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.S. Bonifacio ◽  
P. Nowakowski ◽  
R. Li ◽  
M.L. Ray ◽  
P.E. Fischione ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sample Preparation ◽  
Failure Analysis ◽  
Focused Ion Beam ◽  
Ion Beam ◽  
Semiconductor Devices ◽  
Specific Area ◽  
Cutting Edge ◽  
Preparation Technique ◽  
Ion Milling ◽  
Sample Preparation Technique

Abstract Fast and accurate examination from the bulk to the specific area of the defect in advanced semiconductor devices is critical in failure analysis. This work presents the use of Ar ion milling methods in combination with Ga focused ion beam (FIB) milling as a cutting-edge sample preparation technique from the bulk to specific areas by FIB lift-out without sample-preparation-induced artifacts. The result is an accurately delayered sample from which electron-transparent TEM specimens of less than 15 nm are obtained.

Tem Specimen Preparation for Display Materials of Vacuum Fluorescent Displays

1998 ◽  
Vol 4 (S2) ◽  
pp. 870-871
Author(s):  
T. Dolukhanyan ◽  
C. Sung ◽  
S. Ahn ◽  
J. Lee
Keyword(s):  
Bulk Material ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
High Yield ◽  
Specimen Preparation ◽  
List Type ◽  
Ion Milling ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Preparation Methods ◽  
Plan View ◽  
Submicron Scale

Further development of Vacuum Fluorescent Displays (Fig.l) for low cost production and high yield requires investigation of all the components on a submicron scale at various processing stages.A variety of specimen preparation methods have been used for making different types of high quality cross-sectional and plan-view TEM specimens from:1.Initial phosphor materials - ZnCdS powders admixed with conducting powder of ln2O3;2.In2O3 mixed ZnCdS phosphor layers of ready-made working VFD;3.W - filament cathodes coated with (Ba,Sr,Ca) oxides.Rapid sharing of results.Group 1 specimens were made both by direct dispersion of phosphor powder particles on the carbon coated copper grid from acetone diluted powder suspension, and by preparation of cured bulk material from the powder using Gatan G-l epoxy, followed by cutting, grinding-dimpling and final ion milling in Gatan DuoMill 600 (Fig.2).

scholarly journals Rapid Cross-Section TEM Specimen Preparation of III-V Materials

2003 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Beanland
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscope ◽  
Cross Section ◽  
Transmission Electron Microscope ◽  
Limited Resources ◽  
Specimen Preparation ◽  
Preparation Technique ◽  
Sample Type ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Conventional Methods ◽  
The Cross

AbstractCross-section transmission electron microscope (TEM) specimen preparation of Ill-V materials using conventional methods can be a painful and time-consuming activity, with a day or more from receipt of a sample to examination in the TEM being the norm. This article describes the cross-section TEM specimen preparation technique used at Bookham Caswell. The usual time from start to finish is <1 hour. Up to 10 samples can be prepared at once, depending upon sample type. Most of the tools used are widely available and inexpensive, making the technique ideal for use in institutions with limited resources.

Simple Plan View Specimen Preparation Technique For Tem Investigation Of Semiconductors and Metals

1987 ◽  
Vol 115 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. De Veirman ◽  
J. Eysermans ◽  
H. Bender ◽  
J. Vanhellemont ◽  
J. Van Landuyt
Keyword(s):  
Silicon Layer ◽  
Silicon On Insulator ◽  
Specimen Preparation ◽  
Preparation Technique ◽  
Plan View ◽  
Expensive Equipment

ABSTRACTThis paper discusses a rapid and simple specimen preparation technique which was originally developed for plan view TEM investigation of processed silicon, but which afterwards was modified for the study of GaAs, Al/Al2O3 and Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) structures. The major advantage of this poor man's method is that no specialised nor expensive equipment is needed.A second technique is also described which is used in the case of unseeded SOI structures where the analysis of the top silicon layer is important.

scholarly journals Accurate Sub-micron Device Delayering of Plan View TEM Specimens By Ar Ion Milling

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.S. Bonifacio ◽  
P. Nowakowski ◽  
R. Li ◽  
M.L. Ray ◽  
P.E. Fischione
Keyword(s):  
Focused Ion Beam ◽  
Ion Beam ◽  
Failure Mechanisms ◽  
Specimen Preparation ◽  
New Materials ◽  
Ion Milling ◽  
Plan View ◽  
Site Specific ◽  
New Device ◽  
Device Structures

Abstract With the introduction of new materials, new device structures, and shrinking device dimensions, failure mechanisms evolve, which can make identifying defects challenging. Therefore, an accurate and controllable delayering process to target defects is desirable. We present a workflow comprised of bulk device delayering by broad Ar ion beam milling, plan view specimen preparation by focused ion beam tool, followed by site-specific delayering by concentrated Ar ion beam milling. The result is an accurately delayered device, without sample preparation-induced artifacts, that is suitable for uncovering defects during physical failure analysis.

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