FA usage from laser-assisted tech

At FA applications, there are a lot of chances to localize defect by related laser-assisted techniques just like optical beam induced resistance change (OBIRCH), thermally induced voltage alteration (TIVA), external induced voltage alteration (XIVA) and Seebeck effect imaging (SEI). Describe these techs as below,

Optical beam induced resistance change
Optical beam induced resistance change (OBIRCH) is an imaging technique which uses a laser beam to induce a thermal change in the device. Laser stimulation highlights differences in thermal characteristics between areas containing defects and areas which are defect-free. As the laser locally heats a defective area on a metal line which is carrying a current, the resulting resistance changes can be detected by monitoring the input current to the device. OBIRCH is useful for detecting electromigration effects resulting in open metal lines.

FA Critical Tech : EDX (Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy)

At FA field, EDX (Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy) is one of the most important technology for elemental analysis or chemical characterization of a sample.It is one of the variants of XRF. As a type of spectroscopy, it relies on the investigation of a sample through interactions between electromagnetic radiation and matter, analyzing x-rays emitted by the matter in response to being hit with charged particles. Its characterization capabilities are due in large part to the fundamental principle that each element has a unique atomic structure allowing x-rays that are characteristic of an element's atomic structure to be identified uniquely from each other.

[Contributor: R. Carpenter] Knock Atoms Off by FIB

In our FA procedure, nano machines or devices require manufacturing very small parts for their construction, and extracting small specimens from them for analysis of structure and composition at the nanoscale level, to analyze performance. Focused Ion Beam (FIB) machining, which is sometimes called FIB milling, has emerged as one of the most useful methods for shaping nanomaterials after synthesis. Near net shape synthesis methods, such as photo lithographic patterning used with chemical vapor deposition, is the other primary synthesis technique. These two techniques are often complementary, and here we illustrate and describe FIB milling.

FIB milling involves removing material from a larger body to make a nanopart or specimen. Examples are nanogears and specimens for transmission electron microscopy cut out from specific regions of interest in electronic nanodevices.

Familiar with Semiconductor Defects

In the FA lab, there are many kinds of defect modes were revealed. The author classify systematically these defects and could be a general idea of  FA engineer.

In this article we take a look at common semiconductor defects or faults which can occur inside a package. Each type of error has multiple detection techniques and the electronic failure analysis method chosen depends on the sensitivity required, the type of chip it is, and whether or not the process is destructive.

The first kind of defect in a semiconductor relates to the materials used. Because of the extreme dependence of the device on the exact makeup of the chip, any variance or impurities in the material will cause it to operate outside the specified range. Detecting these variances isn't trivial and many sensitive methods are used to detect it such as optical emission spectroscopy.

Tip selection for the resonance frequency / the force constant

For C-AFM utilization, tip parameters are most important to determine the image quality and I-V characteristic correctness.

For example, tip choice about tapping mode at our lab, the cantilevers are made from monocrystalline silicon. Therefore the resonance frequency and the force constant are very precisely determined by the geometry of the cantilever requiring no calibration. The thickness of the cantilever is measured with an interferometric microscope. Length and width are measured with an optical microscope.

Resonance frequency and force constant are calculated with these measured values taking the approximate mass of the tip into account. The measurement errors and the simplifaction used in the calculation lead to the following error values for the resonance frequency and the force constant: In the tip sell market, approximately 10% error for cantilevers 450µm in length, Approximately 20% error for cantilevers 125µm or 225µm in length.

Of course, there are many kinds of tip for vary application areas. One could select suitable tip parameters before try these tips.