Developments in scanning electron microscopy including enhancements in electron sources, the application of aberration correction technology to the lenses, and more selective detector systems, will be discussed. A new high brightness helium ion source offers significant competition and the performance and future potential of scanning electron and scanning ion systems will be compared.

There are several technologies for 3D imaging at the package and chip levels. This talk will review the history of these developments and discuss the trade-offs among existing and near-future options, including real-space imaging and phase retrieval for x-rays and incoherent bright field imaging for TEM.

Focused ion Beam (FIB) systems have evolved to become a critical tool in any modern semiconductor analytical/microscopy lab. Present generation ion optical systems feature 5 nm spot size for imaging and nanomachining; with simple, quick optical reconfiguration to high current beams (of larger size) for rapid removal of sample material. This makes the FIB system an ideal tool for micromachining to gain access to internal areas of complex 3-D devices, and nanomachining of areas of interest to thicknesses required for atomic resolution TEM/STEM imaging, chemical and electrical analysis. In addition to the latest capabilities of standard failure analysis sample prep, this talk will demonstrate the use of FIB to prepare live, electron transparent samples with electrical contacts intact for not only atomic resolution imaging but also full STEM based electrical characterization using EBIC and CL as well. Novel methods of FIB/nanomanipulator based rewiring will also be demonstrated, as well as FIB based fabrication of plasmonic sensors. The use of ion beam induced/assisted chemistry will be highlighted in all examples shown.

The process development and yield enhancement cycles are critical components in the time-to-market equation and the ability of a fabless designer to work with the foundry to shorten the cycle is a primary determinant of success in the competitive marketplace. To this end, a number of fabless companies are now adopting failure analysis, design-debug and process development techniques that are well established among integrated device manufacturers (IDMs). The range of failure analysis techniques employed by the fabless manufacturer is very close to those employed by the the IDM, with the exception of materials analysis techniques specifically used for process monitoring (i.e., magnetic sector SIMS for dopant profiling). Where things differ is in how these techniques are deployed. In the Integrated Fabless Manufacturing (IFM) environment, the failure analysis work is deployed as close as possible to the end users of the FA results. For design debug, the FA team acts as the "eyes and ears" of the circuit design team, allowing them to see what’s really happening in their circuits. For yield enhancement/defect reduction, this not only means doing failure analysis at the foundry with the IFM and foundry FA teams working closely together to share design information and analytical results. It also means developing methods to share enough IP to rapidly drive down defect density, yet protect critical design and process IP from disclosure in a way that doesn’t stifle collaboration. Finally, it also requires hybrid methods of sample preparation and fixturing that bridge the gap between wafer based and package based failure analysis.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a powerful imaging technique that typically operates on the scale of millimeters to micrometers. Conventional MRI is based on the manipulation of nuclear spins with radio-frequency fields, and the subsequent detection of spins with induction-based techniques. An alternative approach, magnetic resonance force microscopy (MRFM), uses force detection to overcome the sensitivity limitations of conventional MRI. Recently we demonstrated that two-dimensional imaging of nuclear spins can be extended to a spatial resolution better than 100 nm using MRFM [1]. I will discuss this effort and the significant progress we have made since then, reaching a true three-dimensional resolution of better than 10 nm.

3-D characterization of semiconductor devices at the near atomic level is increasingly important, especially for semiconductor logic and memory devices as well as quantum structured photovoltaics. In order to properly understand these devices, chemical resolution down to the ppm level is needed while maintaining sub-nm spatial resolution. Atom probe tomography is capable of these detection levels, but has previously been utilized primarily in metallurgy. Utilizing atom probe in semiconductor devices requires new reconstruction and specimen preparation techniques due to the widely varying materials present in devices. To that end, our recent work on FIB specimen preparation as well as cross-correlating atom probe with TEM tomography will be highlighted. Materials systems particularly highlighted in this talk will include high-k dielectrics, doping in Si devices, and III-V quantum well layers.

In-situ testing methods have been used to measure the mechanical properties of 1-dimensional nanostructures, specifically carbon nanotubes and various inorganic nanowires. The approaches and some of their limitations will be discussed.