Semiconductors

Carbon Film

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Nanocarbon material (diamond, graphene, carbon nanotubes and so on) have excellent electrical properties, such as high electron mobility and tolerance to a high current density. They also have high thermal conductivity and mechanical strength, and are therefore promising materials for future electronic devices for a breakthrough. HORIBA contributes its measurement technology for film thickness measurement and defects analysis of nanocarbon materials.

Film Thickness and Quality | Stress Analysis | Elemental Analysis | Foreign Object Detection/Analysis

Film Thickness and Quality

In the advancement of thin film technology through miniaturization, we propose solutions for achieving high film deposition control, such as in-situ evaluation during the film deposition process and evaluation of thin films at the Ångström order level.

Film thickness and film quality analysis of ultra-thin films: SiO₂ film analysis of Å order thin film using spectroscopic ellipsometer
Film quality analysis of silicon oxide film: Changes in film quality within the same type of film using a spectroscopic ellipsometer
Thin film analysis in liquid: Analysis using a spectroscopic ellipsometer liquid measurement cell
In situ thin film evaluation: In-chamber wafer analysis by incorporating analytical parts into the chamber

Membrane information obtained using a spectroscopic ellipsometer

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are thin, light, and flexible string-like materials with a minimum diameter of less than 1 nm that are composed entirely of carbon atoms. Because of their high electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and heat resistance, CNTs are being developed for a variety of applications as next-generation materials. On the other hand, CNTs easily aggregate, so it is essential to understand and control the state of aggregation in order to achieve the expected performance.

Stress Analysis

We propose a multifaceted stress evaluation solution using a Raman spectrometer boasting high wavenumber and spatial resolution, along with cathodoluminescence (CL).

Stress imaging of Si microfabricated structures: Stress distribution analysis using Raman images
Stress analysis of SiGe: High spatial resolution stress analysis using AFM Raman

Fabrication of the diamond micro-pillars

Luminescent defects in single crystal diamond are the focus of intense research activities due to a broad range of possible applications in quantum computing, cryptography and magnetometry. Among them, the so called Nitrogen-Vacancy (NV) centre is particularly promising due to exceptionally long spin coherence times at room temperature. The spin state of this defect can also be optically manipulated and read-out which could pave the way to innovative solid-state quantum mechanical systems.

Elemental Analysis

Polysilicon, the raw material for silicon wafers, requires strict control of carbon content, which affects its conductivity. As higher purity silicon wafers are required, it is important to understand the amount of carbon contained in polysilicon supplied as a material. However, some carbon is present as carbonate and some is attached as CO2, making it very difficult to distinguish between them and analyze the extremely small amount of carbon.

The concentration of oxygen in silicon wafers has a significant impact on their electrical resistance. Therefore, it is crucial to control the concentration of oxygen, even in extremely small amounts, in silicon wafers. However, a challenge arises when analyzing highly doped single crystals. Due to their unique properties and high doping levels, the analysis of oxygen in these samples becomes more difficult. The presence of impurities and dopants can interfere with the accurate measurement of oxygen concentration using FT-IR spectroscopy.

Foreign Object Detection/Analysis

Defects in wafers can also be caused by foreign matter, and we will introduce a method of microscopic elemental analysis to identify the cause of defects.

Reticle/mask foreign object detection: High-throughput foreign object detection
Foreign matter removal device on wafers: Automatic foreign matter removal device using blow & vacuum suction