Conventional and back-side focused ion beam milling for off-axis electron holography of electrostatic potentials in transistors

Off-axis electron holography is used to characterize a linear array of transistors, which was prepared for examination in cross-sectional geometry in the transmission electron microscope (TEM) using focused ion beam (FIB) milling from the substrate side of the semiconductor device. The measured elec...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ultramicroscopy 2005-04, Vol.103 (1), p.67-81
Main Authors: Dunin-Borkowski, Rafal E., Newcomb, Simon B., Kasama, Takeshi, McCartney, Martha R., Weyland, Matthew, Midgley, Paul A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Back-side milling
Charging
Dopant contrast
Electrostatic potential
Focused ion beam milling
Off-axis electron holography
Specimen preparation
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Off-axis electron holography is used to characterize a linear array of transistors, which was prepared for examination in cross-sectional geometry in the transmission electron microscope (TEM) using focused ion beam (FIB) milling from the substrate side of the semiconductor device. The measured electrostatic potential is compared with results obtained from TEM specimens prepared using the more conventional ‘trench’ FIB geometry. The use of carbon coating to remove specimen charging effects, which result in electrostatic fringing fields outside ‘trench’ specimens, is demonstrated. Such fringing fields are not observed after milling from the substrate side of the device. Analysis of the measured holographic phase images suggests that the electrically inactive layer on the surface of each FIB-milled specimen typically has a thickness of 100 nm.
ISSN:0304-3991
1879-2723
DOI:10.1016/j.ultramic.2004.11.018