Application of Atomic Force Microscopy in the Study of Semiconductor Materials and Devices

In this webinar, we highlight how Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) can assist in nanometer scale characterization of semiconductor materials and devices. In a first section, we take a closer look at the capability to perform high resolution imaging of surface topography. A few typical applications are covered:

1. Roughness characterization of bare wafers and thin films
2. CMP characterization including roughness, dishing and erosion
3. Inspection of nanoscale defects
4. Critical dimension metrology of lines, trenches, holes and other nanoscale structures such as CMOS imaging sensor micro lenses and LED patterned sapphire substrate dome structures

Practical aspects such as tip selection, tip shape monitoring and tip lifetime, throughput, automation and extraction of critical analysis parameters are covered. The high-resolution imaging capability of AFM is augmented by the possibility to simultaneously measure electrical, mechanical and thermal properties, with the same nanometer scale resolution.

In the webinar, particular attention is given to electrical characterization, including carrier profiling inside devices, conductivity mapping on dielectrics, and failure analysis of devices. Finally, we focus on the capability to apply AFM for local chemical identification by combining it with nanoscale IR imaging and spectroscopy. Two interesting applications of this ‘AFM-IR’ approach are the chemical identification of contaminants and chemical mapping (with 10 nm spatial resolution) of specific materials.