By Richard Young, Eric Van Cappellen, Peter Carleson, FEI, Hillsboro, OR S emiconductor manufacturers need higher resolution imaging and better analytical capabilities to determine what causes failures in smaller and smaller devices. Despite significant advantages in resolution and analysis capabilities, TEMs have not found great acceptance in semiconductor-manufacturing applications in large part because of the difficulty of preparing samples for them.
TEM analysis finds use at many stages of an integrated circuit's life.
During process development, a TEM can provide high-resolution metrology and chemical analyses. Once a semiconductor process is running, a TEM can operate as a metrology tool for monitoring the process and analyzing defects implicated in yield problems. Finally, a TEM can inspect returned ICs to help determine the root cause of a failure. To properly use a TEM, you must understand how to prepare samples and the tradeoffs in the sample-preparation techniques. For the highest resolution imaging and analysis applications, thinner is generally better.