Groot-Ammers | November 7th, 2024

Advanced semiconductor processes require clean and properly treated surfaces, free of particulate and residue defects. While atomic species can be identified on these defects via EDS , organic and inorganic compounds cannot be named if they are smaller than ~ 200 nm.

DATE & TIME
📆 Wednesday, November 13th, 2024
🕔 11:00 (CET) 

While atomic force microscopes (AFMs) are utilized for characterizing post-CMP topography, they cannot detect ultrathin and conformal residues or chemically identify contaminants on a surface. By combining infrared spectroscopy with an AFM, photo-induced force microscopy (PiFM) is able to achieve resolutions better than EDS and provide molecular identities rather than atomic identities.

The high spatial resolution (< 5 nm) and surface sensitivity (< 20 nm) provide, for the first time, the ability to chemically name organic and inorganic nanoparticles or monolayer residues. PiF-IR nano-spectra can be used to name compounds at precise locations, and PiFM chemical maps can show the distribution of different chemical components across the AFM topography. Whether a particle or ultrathin film is intended or unintended, no other technique provides the direct visualization of surface chemistry like PiFM and PiF-IR.

The yield of a semiconductor process depends on knowing precise information about a surface—if a film exists, what it is, and how it is dispersed on the surface. If a particle exists, what it looks like and what it is made of. This webinar will demonstrate the capabilities of PiFM and PiF-IR and allow you to ask the experts for insight on solving problems you face today.

Key Learning Objectives:

• Existence of IR PiFM for AFM plus IR spectroscopy/mapping with sub–5-nm spatial resolution  
• Understand the applications of IR PiFM in semiconductor metrology
• Review application examples in naming sub–100-nm particulate defects and ultrathin conformal surface contaminants