Atom probe tomographic assessment of the distribution of germanium atoms implanted in a silicon matrix through nano-apertures

Abstract

Ion implantation through nanometer-scale apertures (nano-apertures) is a promising method to precisely position ions in silicon matrices, which is a requirement for next generation electronic and quantum computing devices. This paper reports the application of atom probe tomography (APT) to investigate the three-dimensional distribution of germanium atoms in silicon after implantation through nano-aperture of 10 nm in diameter, for evaluation of the amount and spatial distribution of implanted dopants. The experimental results obtained by APT are consistent with a simple simulation with consideration of several effects during lithography and ion implantation, such as channeling and resist flow.

Processing APT Spectral Backgrounds for Improved Quantification

“…Atom probe tomography (APT) provides a nanoscale view into material microstructures and is unique in its ability to provide the 3D distribution of all elements across an increasingly wide range of materials systems. More recent applications of APT to materials research and development, such as in semiconductors (Tu et al, 2017), geological (Piazolo et al, 2016), and nuclear materials (Dong et al, 2013), has resulted in an increased demand for improved quantification of the datasets acquired using this technique. Research into these materials is often focused on low-concentration species, which may form alloying elements, act as dopants, or provide information on, e.g., isotopic abundances in datasets in geological specimens (Saxey et al, 2018), in astronomy applications (Heck et al, 2014), or in isotopic tracing (Haley et al, 2014).…”

Atom Probe Tomography Characterization of Dopant Distributions in Si FinFET: Challenges and Solutions

“…In contrast, atom probe tomography (APT) has exhibited its potential in characterizing 3D nanoscale semiconductor devices due to its high 3D spatial resolution and chemical sensitivity (Martin et al, 2016, 2018; Melkonyan et al, 2017; Barnes et al, 2018; Giddings et al, 2018). APT has recently been used in analyzing dopant distributions in polycrystalline Si or Si/SiO 2 interfaces (Ngamo et al, 2010; Jin et al, 2012; Han et al, 2015; Tu et al, 2017 a , 2017 b ), planar-type Si transistor devices (Inoue et al, 2009; Larson et al, 2011; Takamizawa et al, 2011) with high- k metal gate stacks (Panciera et al, 2012; Estivill et al, 2016), FinFET structures (Martin et al, 2016, 2018; Melkonyan et al, 2017), and gate-all-around structures (Grenier et al, 2014).…”