A Procedure for Cross Sectioning Specific Semiconductor Devices for Both SEM and TEM Analysis

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe procedures described in this paper allow both SEM and TEM analysis to be performed on the same, device specific, semiconductor cross section. In order to accomplish this, a number of tools and fixtures have been constructed that allow the user to polish into the sample to a predetermined plane-of-polish, bisecting the device or feature of interest for SEM analysis. After SEM examination, the specimen is prepared for TEM analysis by first affixing a grid to the just-examined surface, inverting the specimen and parallel-polishing the backside of the specimen until the specimen's total thickness is in the 0.5 to 1.0μm range using the described tools. A subsequent one to ten minute ion milling step cleans the specimen. A very considerable positive side-effectof this method is the nearelimination of artifacts arisingfrom the use of strong chemicals and lengthy ion milling. The method has been extended to the preparation of plan-view device samples and non-semiconductor specimens.