edfas.org ELECTRONIC DEVICE FAILURE ANALYSIS | VOLUME 27 NO. 2 30 The EDFAS Education Subcommittee strives for the development and delivery of educational products to the EDFAS membership. Keeping with its strategic focus on reaching a broader audience, including facilitating Q&A and educational exchanges on the ASM Connect platform, the Subcommittee presents short format videos on selected FA topics. These presentations are available on ASM Connect in the EDFAS online community. Use the following link: bit.ly/3XI127k. An ASM Connect login is required. For this issue, we are highlighting two tutorials. The first is a tutorial on Sample Preparation for Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) Characterization and Failure Analysis of Advanced Semiconductor Devices by Pawel Nowakowski, E.A. Fischione Instruments Inc., and is available here, bit.ly/3DuLCg4. For SEM sample preparation and analyses, semiconductor devices are typically prepared in two ways: a cross-section view or plan view. The cross-section view gives information about the device layers: total number, thickness, and chemical composition. Cross-section view is very helpful in identifying failures such as delamination, voids, discontinuity of layers, contact problems, or EDUCATION NEWS Navid Asadi nasadi@ufl.edu SPOTLIGHT ON TUTORIALS contamination. It has many applications, such as electrical measurements (electron beam induced current/electron beam absorbed current (EBIC/EBAC), scanning capacitance microscopy (SCM), and nanoprobing) and integrated circuit morphology visualizations for critical dimension measurement (Fig. 1). The accuracy of these analyses is critical for semiconductor industry applications and are dependent on the quality of the investigated surface: the dimensions of the surface area available for investigation (the bigger the better), surface flatness, surface uniformity, and surface cleanliness (devoid of contamination). The sample preparation for those measurements is often done by delayering process. The delayering process removes each device layer, layer-by-layer, and exposes the desired level of the device for future examination. A device delayering process can consist of many different steps and is often very complex. Currently, numerous techniques are used, such as mechanical polishing, chemical etching, Ga FIB and broad Ar ion beam milling. In this tutorial, sample preparation methods for SEM characterizations of devices are presented and discussed, as well as advantages and disadvantages of the various methods. Selecting the appropriate sample preparation method and various imaging and microanalysis techniques are illustrated through case studies. The second featured tutorial is on TEM Specimen Preparation and Failure Analysis of Advanced Semiconductor Devices, presented by Cecile S. Bonifacio, E.A. Fischione Instruments Inc., and is available here, bit.ly/41WPJLc. Relentless miniaturization of semiconductor devices, alongside the introduction of nonplanar structures and novel materials, has elevated transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to a critical characterization tool. As device dimensions shrink, TEM sample preparation techniques have evolved alongside imaging and analytical advancements. Ion milling, including focused ion Fig. 1 Backscatter electron contrast image of Cu-to-Cu direct bonding between the SRAM memory and core complex die of the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D processor, with an overlaid EBSD strain distribution map highlighting strain accumulation at the bond interface.
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