FIB/TEM Sample Preparation using a Wafer Dicing Saw

Abstract

As device features shrink below sub-0.2 micron and the time from development to market reduces, the demand for using focused ion beam (FIB) to prepare TEM samples has increased tremendously over the last two years in semiconductor industry. There are many ways to prepare a TEM sample prior to the FIB one of them involves with a use of dicing saw. In our lab, about 80% of the samples were prepared using the dicing saw technique. Average time to cut out one sample is less than 20 minutes.The dicing saw we used is a Disco model DAD321 equipped with a 250X optical and ccd camera viewing monitor system. To minimize chipping, a 200 um-thick diamond resin composite blade is used. A spindle rotation speed at 30,000 rpm and a stage moving speed at 100 mm/s is set for minimizing blade ware and sample chipping. The parameters for each cut are pre-programmed, so there is no setup required.