Articles you may be interested inConvergent beam electron diffraction measurements of relaxation in strained silicon using higher order Laue zone line splitting J. Appl. Phys. 105, 063526 (2009); 10.1063/1.3093693 Convergent beam electron diffraction investigation of strain induced by Ti self-aligned silicides in shallow trench Si isolation structures J. Appl. Phys. 99, 064504 (2006); 10.1063/1.2179136 Strain analysis in silicon substrates under uniaxial and biaxial stress by convergent beam electron diffraction J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 23, 940 (2005); 10.1116/1.1924583Determining the relationship between local lattice strain and slip systems of dislocations around shallow trench isolation by convergent-beam electron diffraction Test structures consisting of shallow trench isolation ͑STI͒ structures are fabricated using advanced silicon ͑Si͒ technology. Different process parameters and geometrical features are implemented to investigate the residual mechanical stress in the structures. A technology computer aided design homemade tool, IMPACT, is upgraded and optimized to yield strain fields in deep submicron complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor devices. Residual strain in the silicon substrate is measured with micro-Raman spectroscopy ͑-RS͒ and/or convergent beam electron diffraction ͑CBED͒ for large ͑25 m͒ and medium size ͑2 m͒, while only CBED is used for deep submicron STI ͑0.22 m͒. We propose a methodology combining CBED and technology computer aided design ͑TCAD͒ with -RS to assess the accuracy of the CBED measurements and TCAD calculations on the widest structures. The method is extended to measure ͑by CBED͒ and calculate ͑by TCAD͒ the strain tensor in the smallest structures, out of the reach of the -RS technique. The capability of determining, by both measurement and calculation, the strain field distribution in the active regions of deep submicron devices is demonstrated. In particular, it is found that for these structures an elastoplastic model for Si relaxation must be assumed.