Fei Comapny

Qualcomm Incorporated

Corey Senowitz

Jeffrey Blackwood

Cliff Bugge

Matthew Bray

Stacey Stone

Michael Schmidt

Jeff Blackwood

An improved method of preparing a TEM sample. A sample is extracted from a work piece and attached to a probe for transport to a sample holder. The sample is attached to the sample holder using charged particle beam deposition, and mechanically separated from probe by moving the probe and the sample holder relative to each other, without severing the connection using a charged particle beam.

Detaching probe from TEM sample during sample preparation

Transmission electron microscopes (TEMs) are being utilized more often in failure analysis labs as processing nodes decrease and alternative device structures, such as three dimensional, multi-gate transistors, e.g., FinFETs (Fin Field Effect Transistors), are utilized in IC designs. However, these types of structures may confuse typical TEM sample (or 'lamella') preparation as the resulting lamella may contain multiple potentially faulty structures, making it difficult to identify the actual faulty structure. Passive voltage contrast may be used in a dual beam focused ion beam (FIB) microscope system including a scanning electron microscope (SEM) column by systematically identifying non-faulty structures and milling them from the lamella until the faulty structure is identified.

Utilization of voltage contrast during sample preparation for transmission electron microscopy

An improved method of preparing ultra-thin TEM samples that combines backside thinning with an additional cleaning step to remove surface defects on the FIB-facing substrate surface. This additional step results in the creation of a cleaned, uniform 'hardmask' that controls the ultimate results of the sample thinning, and allows for reliable and robust preparation of samples having thicknesses down to the 10 nm range.

TEM sample preparation

An improved method for extracting and handling multiple samples for S/TEM analysis is disclosed. Preferred embodiments of the present invention make use of a micromanipulator that attaches multiple samples at one time in a stacked formation and a method of placing each of the samples onto a TEM grid. By using a method that allows for the processing of multiple samples, the throughput of sample prep in increased significantly.

Growing community of inventors

San Diego, CA, United States of America

Corey Senowitz