CHARACTERIZATION OF ALUMINIUM FILMS DEPOSITED BY ION-BEAM-ASSISTED ULTRAHIGH VACUUM EVAPORATION

INTRODUCTION Recently, a new compound carbon nitride (CNx) has captured the attention of materials scientists, resulting from the prediction of a metastable crystal structure β-C3N4. Calculations showed that the mechanical properties of β-C3N4 are close to those of diamond. Various methods, including high pressure synthesis, ion beam deposition, chemical vapor deposition, plasma enhanced evaporation, and reactive sputtering, have been used in an attempt to make this compound. In this paper, we present the results of electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) analysis of composition and bonding structure of CNX films deposited by two different methods.SPECIMEN PREPARATION Specimens were prepared by arc-discharge evaporation and reactive sputtering. The apparatus for evaporation is similar to the traditional setup of vacuum arc-discharge evaporation, but working in a 0.05 torr ambient of nitrogen or ammonia. A bias was applied between the carbon source and the substrate in order to generate more ions and electrons and change their energy. During deposition, this bias causes a secondary discharge between the source and the substrate.

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Electrical Characterization of Different Failure Modes in Sub-100 nm Devices Using Nanoprobing Technique

ISTFA 2009: Conference Proceedings from the 35th International Symposium for Testing and Failure Analysis ◽

10.31399/asm.cp.istfa2009p0081 ◽

2009 ◽

Author(s):

E. Hendarto ◽

S.L. Toh ◽

J. Sudijono ◽

P.K. Tan ◽

H. Tan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Electron Microscope ◽

Focused Ion Beam ◽

Failure Modes ◽

Ion Beam ◽

Electrical Characterization ◽

Nickel Silicide ◽

Fault Isolation ◽

Technology Nodes ◽

Scanning Electron

Abstract The scanning electron microscope (SEM) based nanoprobing technique has established itself as an indispensable failure analysis (FA) technique as technology nodes continue to shrink according to Moore's Law. Although it has its share of disadvantages, SEM-based nanoprobing is often preferred because of its advantages over other FA techniques such as focused ion beam in fault isolation. This paper presents the effectiveness of the nanoprobing technique in isolating nanoscale defects in three different cases in sub-100 nm devices: soft-fail defect caused by asymmetrical nickel silicide (NiSi) formation, hard-fail defect caused by abnormal NiSi formation leading to contact-poly short, and isolation of resistive contact in a large electrical test structure. Results suggest that the SEM based nanoprobing technique is particularly useful in identifying causes of soft-fails and plays a very important role in investigating the cause of hard-fails and improving device yield.

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Physical Failure Analysis Techniques for Front-End-of-Line Defect Analysis

ISTFA 2016: Conference Proceedings from the 42nd International Symposium for Testing and Failure Analysis ◽

10.31399/asm.cp.istfa2016p0182 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Dirk Doyle ◽

Lawrence Benedict ◽

Fritz Christian Awitan

Keyword(s):

Cross Section ◽

Focused Ion Beam ◽

Ion Beam ◽

Gate Oxide ◽

Top Down ◽

New Techniques ◽

First Case ◽

Transmission Electron ◽

Scanning Transmission

Abstract Novel techniques to expose substrate-level defects are presented in this paper. New techniques such as inter-layer dielectric (ILD) thinning, high keV imaging, and XeF2 poly etch overflow are introduced. We describe these techniques as applied to two different defects types at FEOL. In the first case, by using ILD thinning and high keV imaging, coupled with focused ion beam (FIB) cross section and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM,) we were able to judge where to sample for TEM from a top down perspective while simultaneously providing the top down images giving both perspectives on the same sample. In the second case we show retention of the poly Si short after removal of CoSi2 formation on poly. Removal of the CoSi2 exposes the poly Si such that we can utilize XeF2 to remove poly without damaging gate oxide to reveal pinhole defects in the gate oxide. Overall, using these techniques have led to 1) increased chances of successfully finding the defects, 2) better characterization of the defects by having a planar view perspective and 3) reduced time in localizing defects compared to performing cross section alone.

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