(Invited) Anisotropoic Strain Evaluation in the Finite Si Area by Surface Plasmon Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy

Abstract

For the state-of-the-art large-scale integrated-circuits (LSI), Strain technology is indispensable for the transistor performance improvement. Raman spectroscopy has been performed to evaluate the strain induced in the devices owing to its advantages, i.e., non-destructive, easy-to-use, high-spatial resolution, and high throughput. We have been engaged in the development of extremely sensitive Raman system for the evaluation of strain at the Si surface using UV-laser excitation. In this paper, we report our achievements for the improvement of spatial resolution, evaluation of complicated strain state, and signal enhancement from localized area to evaluate the strain in the state-of-the-art LSI using Raman spectroscopy.