The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.

The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.

Date of Patent:
Aug. 10, 2021

Filed:

Jun. 21, 2019
Applicant:

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd., Hsinchu, TW;

Inventors:

Shih-Wei Hung, Kaohsiung, TW;

Jang Jung Lee, Hsinchu, TW;

Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
H01L 21/76 (2006.01); H01L 21/66 (2006.01); H01L 21/768 (2006.01); H01J 37/285 (2006.01); H01L 29/45 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
H01L 22/14 (2013.01); H01J 37/285 (2013.01); H01L 21/76849 (2013.01); H01L 22/30 (2013.01); H01L 29/45 (2013.01);
Abstract

The disclosure is directed to techniques in preparing an atom probe tomography ('APT') specimen. A structure in a semiconductor device is identified as including a test object for an APT procedure. A target region is identified in the structure where an APT specimen will be obtained. The target region is analyzed to determine whether a challenging component feature exists therein. A challenging component may include a hard-to-evaporate material, a hollow region, or a material unidentifiable with respect to the test object, or other structural features that pose a challenge to a successful APT analysis. If it is determined that a challenging component exists in the target region, the challenging component is replaced with a more suitable material before the APT specimen is prepared.


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