Optimizing Gas-Assisted Processes for Ga and Xe FIB Circuit Edit Application

Abstract

Despite commercial availability of a number of gas-enhanced chemical etches for faster removal of the material, there is still lack of understanding about how to take into account ion implantation and the structural damage by the primary ion beam during focused ion beam gas-assisted etching (FIB GAE). This paper describes the attempt to apply simplified beam reconstruction technique to characterize FIB GAE within single beam width and to evaluate the parameters critical for editing features with the dimensions close to the effective ion beam diameter. The approach is based on reverse-simulation methodology of ion beam current profile reconstruction. Enhancement of silicon dioxide etching with xenon difluoride precursor in xenon FIB with inductively coupled plasma ion source appears to be high and relatively uniform over the cross-section of the xenon beam, making xenon FIB potentially suitable platform for selective removal of materials in circuit edit application.

Non-destructive determination of phase, size, and strain of individual grains in polycrystalline photovoltaic materials

“…In addition to the thermal stresses inflicted during annealing, we can also consider the entangled combination of the chemical distortion caused by the off-stoichiometric composition of the film and the inflicted mechanical deformation through the cutting of the solar cell and the removal of the glass through mechanical polishing. Likewise, FIB etching could have introduced artifacts such as ion implantation and structural damage [63], [64]. Unfortunately, sample preparation is unavoidable as the 5 mm thick amorphous glass substrate causes a background that buries the signal of the grains.…”