Scott, J.
and Windsor, E.
(2000),
Chemical and Structural Characterization of Ultrathin Dielectric Films Using AEM, Journal of the Materials Research Society
(Accessed April 19, 2024)
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Chemical and Structural Characterization of Ultrathin Dielectric Films Using AEM
Published
Author(s)
J H. Scott,
Abstract
The structure of ultrathin silicon oxynitride films, used as gate dielectrics in integrated circuits (ICs), is studied using analytical electron microscopy (AEM). Laterally homogeneous blanket films approximately 2nm in thickness are characterized in cross section using a 300 keV field emission TEM/STEM. High resolution imaging (HRTEM) is used to investigate the accuracy and precision of film thickness measurements and their comparability to other techniques such as secondary ion mass spectrometry, spectroscopic ellipsometry, x-ray reflectivity, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and medium energy ion scattering. A two dimensional magnification calibration scheme that fits a pair of basis vectors to experimental images is presented, and integrated intensity profiles are used to define film boundaries for measurement. The image processing tools simultaneously improve the repeatability of the measurements and remove subjective operator bias from the measurement process.Citation
Journal of the Materials Research Society
Volume
592
Pub Type
Journals
Keywords
gate dielectric, silicon oxynitride, TEM, thickness measurement, ultrathin films
Citation
Created December 31, 1999, Updated October 12, 2021