FIB-SEM tomography acquisition and data processing optimization for logic and memory structures
FIB-SEM tomography acquisition and data processing optimization for logic and memory structures
Thursday, November 16, 2023: 8:40 AM
103 A-B (Phoenix Convention Center)
Summary:
Focused-Ion Beam Scanning Electron Microscopy (FIB-SEM) tomography is a method for 3D imaging with nanometer resolution frequently used in materials and life sciences, and increasingly so for semiconductor devices. It has been proposed and demonstrated on power devices as a failure and constructional analysis method that avoids misinterpretation of defects and structures in conventional 2D cross-sectional imaging, and that provides process engineers with results they can directly interpret. With the latest advancements in FIB and SEM control methods, the application of this technique to logic and memory structures of the latest technology nodes has become possible. However, the smaller the structures to be imaged and the smaller the voxel sizes used, the more susceptible FIB-SEM 3D data are to artifacts such as imaging flaws, distortions, ripples, or jitter related to system stability under environmental disturbances. In this paper, we will show examples and discuss ways to reduce the likelihood of such artifacts already in the data acquisition, as well as how to mitigate them in data post-processing, and therefore increase the data quality.
Focused-Ion Beam Scanning Electron Microscopy (FIB-SEM) tomography is a method for 3D imaging with nanometer resolution frequently used in materials and life sciences, and increasingly so for semiconductor devices. It has been proposed and demonstrated on power devices as a failure and constructional analysis method that avoids misinterpretation of defects and structures in conventional 2D cross-sectional imaging, and that provides process engineers with results they can directly interpret. With the latest advancements in FIB and SEM control methods, the application of this technique to logic and memory structures of the latest technology nodes has become possible. However, the smaller the structures to be imaged and the smaller the voxel sizes used, the more susceptible FIB-SEM 3D data are to artifacts such as imaging flaws, distortions, ripples, or jitter related to system stability under environmental disturbances. In this paper, we will show examples and discuss ways to reduce the likelihood of such artifacts already in the data acquisition, as well as how to mitigate them in data post-processing, and therefore increase the data quality.