Etching monitoring of advanced forksheet devices using AKONIS SIMS tool
Etching monitoring of advanced forksheet devices using AKONIS SIMS tool
Thursday, October 31, 2024
Indigo Ballroom (Hilton San Diego Bayfront)
Summary:
FinFET (Fin Field-Effect Transistor) design that has been widely adopted in the last decade to overcome some of the limitations of planar transistor technology, allowing for better control of current flow and reduced leakage. Nowadays, the most advanced manufacturers are facing a big challenge in scaling CMOS beyond FinFET to nanosheets. In the near future, they will have to overcome another fundamental change, where nanosheet devices will be combined to form complementary FETs (CFETs). IMEC recently proposed an innovative alternative architecture between the nanosheets and the CFETs, called the forksheet device which can be considered as a natural extension of the nanosheet device. Their process flow is quite similar, with only a few additional process steps in the case of the forksheet devices for which manufacturers are in need of accurate and sensitive analytical tools. The AKONIS Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) tool from CAMECA has been designed to answer these customer’s needs combining analytical performance and full automation. The tool is equipped with a novel ion source embedded in a redesigned ultra-low-energy primary column with seamlessly automated beam optics. It enables to reach an excellent depth resolution while keeping very high sensitivity on 80µm x 80µm OCD pads. The work here presents the forksheet etching monitoring with AKONIS SIMS tool.
FinFET (Fin Field-Effect Transistor) design that has been widely adopted in the last decade to overcome some of the limitations of planar transistor technology, allowing for better control of current flow and reduced leakage. Nowadays, the most advanced manufacturers are facing a big challenge in scaling CMOS beyond FinFET to nanosheets. In the near future, they will have to overcome another fundamental change, where nanosheet devices will be combined to form complementary FETs (CFETs). IMEC recently proposed an innovative alternative architecture between the nanosheets and the CFETs, called the forksheet device which can be considered as a natural extension of the nanosheet device. Their process flow is quite similar, with only a few additional process steps in the case of the forksheet devices for which manufacturers are in need of accurate and sensitive analytical tools. The AKONIS Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) tool from CAMECA has been designed to answer these customer’s needs combining analytical performance and full automation. The tool is equipped with a novel ion source embedded in a redesigned ultra-low-energy primary column with seamlessly automated beam optics. It enables to reach an excellent depth resolution while keeping very high sensitivity on 80µm x 80µm OCD pads. The work here presents the forksheet etching monitoring with AKONIS SIMS tool.