Ion thinning of integrated circuit transverse specimens for transmission electron microscopy

Abstract

Non-uniform ion-thinning of heterogenous material structures has constituted a fundamental difficulty in preparation of specimens for transmission electron microscopy (TEM). A variety of corrective procedures have been developed and reported for reducing or eliminating the effect. Some of these techniques are applicable to any non-homogeneous material system and others only to unidirectionalfy heterogeneous samples. Recently, a procedure of the latter type has been developed which is mainly based on a new motion profile for the specimen rotation during ion-milling. This motion profile consists of reversing partial revolutions (RPR) within a fixed sector which is centered around a direction perpendicular to the specimen heterogeneity axis. The ion-milling results obtained through this technique, as studied on a number of thin film cross-sectional TEM (XTEM) specimens, have proved to be superior to those produced via other procedures.XTEM specimens from integrated circuit (IC) devices essentially form a complex unidirectional nonhomogeneous structure. The presence of a variety of mostly lateral features at different levels along the substrate surface (consisting of conductors, semiconductors, and insulators) generally cause non-uniform results if ion-thinned conventionally.