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New developments in surface characterization techniques for the semiconductor industry
Author(s) -
Shaffner T. J.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
surface and interface analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.52
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1096-9918
pISSN - 0142-2421
DOI - 10.1002/sia.740141007
Subject(s) - materials science , characterization (materials science) , semiconductor , atom probe , nanotechnology , optoelectronics , scanning tunneling microscope , analytical chemistry (journal) , chemistry , transmission electron microscopy , chromatography
Development of diagnostic techniques in the semiconductor industry continues to be measured against requirements for increased material purity and smaller device dimension. Progressive shrinking of very‐large‐scale integrated circuits into the submicron regime and the emergence of quantum structures on the nanometer scale now require accurate and timely analyses of killing defects, which can be an order of magnitude smaller than minimum geometry. The approach of this article is to review new characterization technique developments which typify our search for an optimum compromise between x – y spatial resolution, depth of analysis and sensitivity of trace metals and dopants. Orders‐of‐magnitude improvement in detectability have been achieved using accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS), laser‐assisted SIMS and Fourier transform photoluminescence. Defects normally elusive at the partsper‐billion atomic level have been studied with sensitive spectroscopies based on positron annihilation and thermal desorption. Deconvolution of high‐resolution x‐ray rocking curves offers capability for in‐depth strain profiling of boron implants. Applications of high‐resolution electron microscopy to heteroepitaxial GaAs on Si and scanning tunneling microscopy to routine grain size measurement are also discussed. Ballistic electron microscopy holds promise as an important new tool for non‐destructive probing on a nanometer scale of the electrical properties of subsurface Schottky interfaces. Statistics are presented in context of the severe sampling problem which inevitably accompanies trace element analysis and single‐atom detection.