Observation of high aspect ratio (HAR) structures is a difficult challenge in metrology and inspection in semiconductor manufacturing. In imaging HAR trenches using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), obtaining SEM images without information loss due to whiteouts and blackouts is challenging. One reason for the difficulty is that the probe current is constant in conventional SEM imaging. Suppose the probe current is increased to detect more secondary electrons from the bottom of the trench. In that case, excessive secondary electron emission from the top of the trench will result in a whiteout. The SEM equipped with a photocathode electron gun (PC-SEM) can change the probe current on a pixel-by-pixel basis by applying a pulsed electron beam. In this study, we propose two methods of SEM observation for HAR trenches. The first method uses a lower probe current at the top of the trench and a higher probe current at the bottom. With this method, the top and bottom of the trench could be observed simultaneously without any whiteout or blackout. Another method is to adjust the probe current so that the SEM image is in a constant grayscale. In this case, information about the sample appears in the probe current. The image of the probe current captured the trench bottom more clearly than the conventional SEM image under equivalent conditions.
KEYWORDS: Electron beams, Semiconductors, Scanning electron microscopy, Transmission electron microscopy, Laser irradiation, Semiconductor materials, Group III-V semiconductors, Electron microscopes, Vacuum
Semiconductor photocathodes are electron beam sources with versatile electron beam performance such as pulsed structure as well as high beam current with high monochromaticity. Photocathode using GaN semiconductor material has solved the durability problem, resulting in the development of a compact photocathode electron gun suitable for industrial technology. The photocathode electron gun can be retrofitted to existing electron microscopes, has the same brightness as a cold field emitter cathode, and the pulsed beam not only brings selective beam irradiation to arbitrary area in the field of view in SEM imaging, but also allows blur-free TEM imaging of moving samples.
Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is used for metrology and inspection in semiconductor manufacturing. In addition, electrical defects such as short circuits and unintentional insulation appear as contrast differences called voltage contrast (VC) in SEM under low acceleration voltage conditions. Moreover, by using pulsed electron beams from a photocathode, the probe current can be arbitrarily changed by pixel in the SEM image. Using this technology, we succeeded in observing the change in the VC of the drain in the metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) by changing in electron beam irradiation on the gate only. In this study, to estimate the threshold voltage of n-type MOSFET (nMOS) from VC, we investigated quantitative changes in the specimen current of the drain (Id) and the gate (Ig) due to gate e-beam irradiation ON/OFF during SEM imaging. The landing energy of the electron beam was set to 0.8 keV, the probe current was 6.3 pA, and the e-beam was irradiated onto only the gate and drain electrodes. Id and Ig, which showed a positive value at the beginning, decreased with time, and saturated at negative values. When the electron beam irradiation to the gate was turned OFF, the Id decreased further and reached saturation. When the gate e-beam irradiation was turned ON again, Ig recovered to a positive and then saturated again to a negative value. On the other hand, the drain Id increased when the gate irradiation was turned ON and returned to the same value as before it was turned OFF.
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