Silicon Oxynitride Film Thickness Measurements Using HRTEM and Grazing Incidence X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (GIXPS)

Published

August 1, 2000

Author(s)

J H. Scott, E Landree, Terrence J. Jach, Eric S. Windsor

Abstract

The ability to accurately and precisely measure the thickness of ultrathin (∝ 3nm) dielectric films, used as gate dielectrics in integrated circuits, is critical to the continued success of the semiconductor manufacturing industry. Unfortunately, existing metrology tools disagree about a given film's thickness by amounts larger than their individual precisions. To support the statistical process control methodologies used in production wafer fabrication, these disagreements need to be investigated and the true accuracy and precision of the tools need to be determined. This work compares the ability of two techniques, high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and grazing incidence x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (GIXPS), to measure the thickness of laterallyhomogeneous blanket films of silicon oxynitride on silicon substrates.

Citation

Microscopy and Microanalysis

Volume

6

Issue

Suppl. 2

Pub Type

Journals

Keywords

electron microscopy, film thickness, GIXPS, HRTEM, oxynitride, ultrathin films, X-ray

Citation

Scott, J. , Landree, E. , Jach, T. and Windsor, E. (2000), Silicon Oxynitride Film Thickness Measurements Using HRTEM and Grazing Incidence X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (GIXPS), Microscopy and Microanalysis (Accessed October 14, 2025)