Three-dimensional imaging of individual hafnium atoms inside a semiconductor device

The aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscope allows probes to be formed with less than 1-Å diameter, providing sufficient sensitivity to observe individual Hf atoms within the SiO2 passivating layer of a HfO2∕SiO2∕Si alternative gate dielectric stack. Furthermore, the depth res...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied physics letters 2005-07, Vol.87 (3)
Main Authors: van Benthem, Klaus, Lupini, Andrew R., Kim, Miyoung, Baik, Hion Suck, Doh, SeokJoo, Lee, Jong-Ho, Oxley, Mark P., Findlay, Scott D., Allen, Leslie J., Luck, Julia T., Pennycook, Stephen J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ACCURACY
ATOMS
BREAKDOWN
DIELECTRIC MATERIALS
ELECTRON MICROSCOPES
HAFNIUM
MATERIALS SCIENCE
PROBES
RESOLUTION
SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES
SENSITIVITY
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Summary:The aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscope allows probes to be formed with less than 1-Å diameter, providing sufficient sensitivity to observe individual Hf atoms within the SiO2 passivating layer of a HfO2∕SiO2∕Si alternative gate dielectric stack. Furthermore, the depth resolution is sufficient to localize the atom positions to half-nanometer precision in the third dimension. From a through-focal series of images, we demonstrate a three-dimensional reconstruction of the Hf atom sites, representing a three-dimensional map of potential breakdown sites within the gate dielectric.
ISSN:0003-6951
1077-3118
DOI:10.1063/1.1991989