Material Characterization & Failure analysis
Ion Technology Center provides material characterization and failure analysis services.
Material Characterization
Equipment
Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry(SIMS)
Equipment
ADEPT1010
Principle
A sample is beamed with ions and sputtered secondary ions
are analyzed with a mass spectromete
Examples
-Depth profiles of ion-implanted samples
-Depth profiles of elements

P depth profile in Si

Depth profile of compound
semiconductor super lattice
X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy(XPS)
/Electron Spectroscopy for Chemical Analysis(ESCA)
Equipment
Quantum-2000
Principle
Determines atomic composition and chemical state
by analyzing the photoelectrons from the surface
to several nanometers emitted by irradiating the sample with x-ray
Characteristics
Atomic and chemical bonding state
Composition depth profile of multilayer film
Examples
-Depth profile of semiconductor thin film
-Composition analysis of shallow region of materials (nm)
-Bonding state analysis of shallow region of materials (nm)

Depth profile of multilayer film

Chemical bonding sate of passive film
Raman Spectroscopy(RAMAN)
Principle
Analyzes crystal state with Raman spectrum scattered
by irradiating the sample with laser beam.
Characteristics
Characterization of carbon material
Examples
-sp2 to sp3 ratio of DLC

DLC crystalline evaluation with RAMAN
Rutherford Back Scattering (RBS)
Principle
Analyzes quantitative composition and crystalline based upon the energy of the ions backscattered by irradiating high energy ions (H, He)
Characteristic
Determine composition and density of thin film
Crystalline evaluation with channeling
Case
-Semiconductor thin film crystalline evaluation
-Determination of H quantity in DLC
-Crystal structure evaluation with channeling

Composition and density evaluation
of SiN thin film with RBS

Crystalline evaluation of SiC implanted
at high temperature with channeling
Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM)
Equipment
JEM-4000 EX-Ⅱ、HD-2000
Principle
Observes transmission electron by irradiating a thin sample with electron beam
Characteristics
Sub nanometers spatial resolution
Crystal structure analysis with electron beam diffraction
Examples
-Measurement of thin film thickness on the order of nanometers
-Crystal defect analysis on the order of semiconductor lattice
-Observation of local crystal structure
-Elemental maps with SETM/EDX

Lattice image of stacking fault edge in SiC

Measurement of thin film thickness in
semiconductor TEG pattern
Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)
Equipment
S-900、JEM7500
Principle
Observes electron coming out from a sample irradiated by electron beam
Characteristic
Observation of roughness and morphology of sample surface
Observation of contrast caused by compositions
Composition analysis with SEM-EDX
Case
-Measurement of material thickness on the order of sub-micron
-Semiconductor failure analysis
-Evaluation of surface roughness
-Evaluation of cross sectional structure

Cross sectional observation
of a semiconductor with SEM

Observation of multi-layer carbon
Nano Indentation
Equipment
Tribo scope
Principle
Tests hardness by pressing a hard tip into a sample
Characteristics
Measurement of hardness of a thin film on the order of nanometers
Observation of incidents on a surface
Examples
-Hardness measurement of semiconductor thin film
-Hardness measurement of DLC

Observation of an indent
by nano indentation tip

Load vs. displacement curve of nano indentation
Atomic Force Microscope (AFM)
Equipment
SPM9600
Principle
Provides surface topography by measuring the deflection of a cantilever scanning through the sample surface
Characteristics
Measurement under the atmospheric pressure condition
2D and 3D surface topographic image
Examples
-Observation of small roughness on semiconductor surface
-Observation of atomic step of a thin film

Evaluation of surface roughness
of ITO film with AFM

Evaluation of surface roughness
of diffraction grating with AFM
X‐ray Diffraction(XRD)
Principle
XRD: Detects diffracted X-ray intensity by Irradiating a sample with X-ray
XRR: Detects refracted X-ray intensity by Irradiating a sample with X-ray at low angle, then determines thickness, density and roughness of the sample with simulation
Characteristics
XRD: Characterization of crystal state
XRR: Determining thickness, density and roughness
Examples
XRD: Characterization of crystal structure of various materials
XRR: Determining thickness, density and roughness of a semiconductor thin film and DLC

Analysis of graphite crystal structure with XRD

Evaluation of DLC thin film
thickness and density with XRR
Failure Analysis
Non destructive analysis
X-ray inspection
Scanning acoustic tomography
3D X-ray CT

X-ray system

3D X-ray CT
Decapsulation/Localization of failure
Decapsulation
EMMI, OBIRCH, THEMOS
Nano Prober

Decapsulation

EMMI

THEMOS

nano prober
Localization of failure
Observation: FIB,SEM, TEM, AFM, etc.
Surface analysis: SIMS, XPS, etc.
Delayer

FIB

SEM

TEM


Delayer to expose target layers