Within this study, the authors have investigated scanning spreading resistance microscopy (SSRM) measurements on silicon samples under different environmental conditions. The authors have mainly focused on the possibility to reduce the required force for obtaining a stable electrical contact between the probe and the sample, and to improve the reproducibility of the technique by cleaving and measuring the samples in a controlled ambient. The authors demonstrate that, by measuring samples that were cleaved and maintained in nitrogen ambient, the force needed for a stable electrical contact between the probe and the sample was reduced by more than a factor of 3 when compared to the force required in air. This leads to an improved signal to noise ratio and enhanced reproducibility with remaining variations now below 10% for -type as well as -type samples. At the same time, tip requirements are relaxed and tip lifetime is improved. Our work has demonstrated that in situ SSRM is a very good candidate to fulfill the stringent ITRS requirements for two-dimensional carrier profiling.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
January 2008
This content was originally published in
Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B: Microelectronics and Nanometer Structures Processing, Measurement, and Phenomena
International Workshop on Insight in Semiconductor Device Fabrication, Metrology and Modeling (Insight 2007)
6-9 May 2007
Napa, California
Research Article|
January 31 2008
Impact of the environmental conditions on the electrical characteristics of scanning spreading resistance microscopy
Pierre Eyben;
Pierre Eyben
a)
IMEC
, Kapeldreef 75, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium
Search for other works by this author on:
Jay Mody;
Jay Mody
IMEC
, Kapeldreef 75, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium and Electrical Engineering Department, INSYS, KU Leuven
, Kasteelpark Arenberg 10, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium
Search for other works by this author on:
Sri Charan Vemula;
Sri Charan Vemula
IMEC
, Kapeldreef 75, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium and Electrical Engineering Department, INSYS, KU Leuven
, Kasteelpark Arenberg 10, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium
Search for other works by this author on:
Wilfried Vandervorst
Wilfried Vandervorst
IMEC
, Kapeldreef 75, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium and Electrical Engineering Department, INSYS, KU Leuven
, Kasteelpark Arenberg 10, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium
Search for other works by this author on:
a)
Electronic mail: [email protected].
J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 26, 338–341 (2008)
Article history
Received:
June 20 2007
Accepted:
October 08 2007
Citation
Pierre Eyben, Jay Mody, Sri Charan Vemula, Wilfried Vandervorst; Impact of the environmental conditions on the electrical characteristics of scanning spreading resistance microscopy. J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 1 January 2008; 26 (1): 338–341. https://doi.org/10.1116/1.2805250
Download citation file:
Pay-Per-View Access
$40.00
Sign In
You could not be signed in. Please check your credentials and make sure you have an active account and try again.
Citing articles via
Future of plasma etching for microelectronics: Challenges and opportunities
Gottlieb S. Oehrlein, Stephan M. Brandstadter, et al.
Machine learning driven measurement of high-aspect-ratio nanostructures using Mueller matrix spectroscopic ellipsometry
Shiva Mudide, Nick Keller, et al.
Transferable GeSn ribbon photodetectors for high-speed short-wave infrared photonic applications
Haochen Zhao, Suho Park, et al.
Related Content
Toward extending the capabilities of scanning spreading resistance microscopy for fin field-effect-transistor-based structures
J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B (January 2008)
Analysis and modeling of the high vacuum scanning spreading resistance microscopy nanocontact on silicon
J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B (March 2010)
Scanning spreading resistance microscopy and spectroscopy for routine and quantitative two-dimensional carrier profiling
J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B (January 2002)
Analysis of the two-dimensional-dopant profile in a 90 nm complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor technology using scanning spreading resistance microscopy
J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B (February 2004)
Bias-induced junction displacements in scanning spreading resistance microscopy and scanning capacitance microscopy
J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B (March 2003)