Using a &lt;670&gt; zone axis for convergent beam electron diffraction measurements of lattice strain in strained silicon

Diercks, David R.; Kaufman, Michael J.; Irwin, R. B.; Jain, Amitabh; Robertson, L. S.; Weijtmans, J.W.; Wise, R.

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2818.2010.03364.x

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…This is particularly important as the scale of microelectronic devices continues to decrease. The degree of resolution loss depends on the angle of tilt from the [110] direction, so efforts have been made to use lower tilt angles for CBED strain measurements (Armigliato et al, 2005;Huang et al, 2006;Zhang et al, 2006;Diercks et al, 2009b). This lateral resolution loss also may limit how close to a particular feature CBED can be applied, because the beam must sample a uniform strain field to produce clear HOLZ line patterns.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Comparison of convergent beam electron diffraction and geometric phase analysis for strain measurement in a strained silicon device

Diercks¹,

Lian²,

Chung³

et al. 2011

Journal of Microscopy

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Key words. Convergent beam electron diffraction (CBED), geometric phase analysis (GPA), high-angle annular-dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF STEM), local strain measurement. SummaryConvergent beam electron diffraction and geometric phase analysis were used to measure strain in the gate channel of a p-type strained silicon metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor. These measurements were made on exactly the same transmission electron microscopy specimen allowing for direct comparison of the relative advantages of each technique. The trends in the strain values show good agreement in both the [110] and [001] directions, but the absolute strain values are offset from each other. This difference in the absolute strain measured using the two techniques is attributed to the way the reference strain is defined for each.Because strained silicon is being used on a highly localized scale to enhance the electrical performance of complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) devices (Chidambaram et al., 2004;Thompson et al., 2004), techniques for the quantitative measurement of elastic strain with high spatial resolution are increasingly necessary. Although convergent beam electron diffraction (CBED) and geometric phase analysis (GPA) have been used previously by several groups for these types of measurements (Toda et al., 2001;Hÿtch et al., 2003;Benedetti et al., 2004;Toh et al., 2005;Chung et al., 2008;Hüe et al., 2008), there have been no reports directly comparing the strain measurements from the two techniques for the same device structure. Because there are relative advantages and limitations of these techniques for strain measurement, a direct comparison of these two techniques should provide a better understanding of these. In CBED, a small, convergent probe is used to produce diffraction from both the zero-order and higher-order Laue zones (ZOLZ and HOLZ, respectively). The HOLZ diffraction appears as pairs of lines in the diffraction patterns -rings of excess lines diffracted to a relatively large angle and corresponding deficit lines in the central disk. Because these lines occur due to Bragg diffraction at relatively large angles, their positions are very sensitive to small changes in the crystal lattice. The sensitivity of lattice measurements using this technique can be on the order of 10 −4 . (Twigg et al., 1987;Kramer & Mayer, 1999) However, most silicon-based devices are oriented along 110 directions, and CBED patterns along this direction do not produce HOLZ lines under typically utilized CBED-operating conditions due to the large spacing between planes in the reciprocal lattice along this direction. Therefore, measurements using this technique are performed by tilting away from the 110 axis, typically along the 004 Kikuchi band, resulting in a loss of lateral resolution. This is particularly important as the scale of microelectronic devices continues to decrease. The degree of resolution loss depends on the angle of tilt from the [110] direction, so efforts have been ...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…3. The details of the methodology used in these measurements are reported elsewhere (Diercks et al, 2009b).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of convergent beam electron diffraction and geometric phase analysis for strain measurement in a strained silicon device

Diercks¹,

Lian²,

Chung³

et al. 2011

Journal of Microscopy

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“…[37,38] However, the latter is usually only possible for thicker specimens or specific tilt angles. [39,40] Therefore, one commonly uses the disk spacing in the ZOLZ pattern to determine the lattice parameters. However, it is only visible under specific electron beam conditions known as nano-beam electron diffraction (NBED).…”

Section: Nanobeam Electron Diffraction (Nbed) and The Exit-wave Power...mentioning

confidence: 99%

4D‐STEM Nanoscale Strain Analysis in van der Waals Materials: Advancing beyond Planar Configurations

Bolhuis,

van Heijst,

Sangers

et al. 2024

Small Science

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Achieving nanoscale strain fields mapping in intricate van der Waals (vdW) nanostructures, like twisted flakes and nanorods, presents several challenges due to their complex geometry, small size, and sensitivity limitations. Understanding these strain fields is pivotal as they significantly influence the optoelectronic properties of vdW materials, playing a crucial role in a plethora of applications ranging from nanoelectronics to nanophotonics. Here, a novel approach for achieving a nanoscale‐resolved mapping of strain fields across entire micron‐sized vdW nanostructures using four‐dimensional (4D) scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) imaging equipped with an electron microscope pixel array detector (EMPAD) is presented. This technique extends the capabilities of STEM‐based strain mapping by means of the exit‐wave power cepstrum method incorporating automated peak tracking and K‐means clustering algorithms. This approach is validated on two representative vdW nanostructures: a two‐dimensional (2D) MoS2 thin twisted flakes and a one‐dimensional (1D) MoO3/MoS2 nanorod heterostructure. Beyond just vdW materials, the versatile methodology offers broader applicability for strain‐field analysis in various low‐dimensional nanostructured materials. This advances the understanding of the intricate relationship between nanoscale strain patterns and their consequent optoelectronic properties.

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“…This becomes more important when the advanced packaging process intends to develop thinner wafers and feature chips with multiple stacked wafers [13]. Thinner wafers and packages pose reliability challenges, and presently there are no compelling non-destructive metrology methods to directly measure the stress and warpage of the wafer under thermomechanical stress conditions [14]. Developing real-time or semi-real-time metrology methods to measure the thermal and mechanical stress in the packaged wafer is highly dependent on the accuracy of the scanning methods [15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Metrology of Warpage in Silicon Wafers Using X-ray Diffraction Mapping

Gorji

2024

Preprint

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X-ray Diffraction (XRD) mapping is a non-destructive metrology technique that enables the reconstruction of warpage induced on a Silicon wafer through thermo-mechanical stress. Here, we mapped the wafer's warpage using a methodology based on a series of line scans in the x and y directions and at different 90-degree rotations of the same sample. These line scans collect rocking curves from the wafer's surface, recording the diffraction angle (ω) deviated from the Bragg angle due to surface misorientation. The surface warpage reflects in XRD measurements by inducing a difference between the measured diffraction angle and the reference Bragg angle (ω − ω0) and rocking curve broadening (FWHM). By collecting and integrating the rocking curves (RCs) and FWHM broadening from the whole surface and multiple rotations of the wafer, we could generate 3D maps of the surface function f(x) and the angular misorientation (warpage). The warpage exhibits a convex shape, aligning with optical profilometry measurements reported in the literature. The lab-based XRDI has the potential to be developed to map the wafer's warpage in a shorter time and in situ, as can be perfectly performed in Synchrotron radiation source.

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Using a <670> zone axis for convergent beam electron diffraction measurements of lattice strain in strained silicon

Cited by 5 publications

References 18 publications

Comparison of convergent beam electron diffraction and geometric phase analysis for strain measurement in a strained silicon device

Comparison of convergent beam electron diffraction and geometric phase analysis for strain measurement in a strained silicon device

4D‐STEM Nanoscale Strain Analysis in van der Waals Materials: Advancing beyond Planar Configurations

Metrology of Warpage in Silicon Wafers Using X-ray Diffraction Mapping

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