Abstract
It is crucial to develop novel metrology techniques in the semiconductor fabrication process to accurately measure a film’s thickness in a few nanometers, as well as the material profile of the film. Highly uniform trichlorosilane (1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorodecyltrichlorosilane, FDTS) derived SAM film patterns were fabricated by several conventional semiconductor fabrication methods combined, including photolithography, SAM vapor deposition, and the lift-off technique. Substantial information can be collected for FDTS SAM film patterns when Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) techniques are incorporated to investigate this material. Precise two-dimensional (2D) FDTS SAM film patterns were reconstructed through mapping analysis of corresponding elements and chemical state peaks by AES and XPS. Additionally, three-dimensional (3D) FDTS SAM film patterns were also reconstructed layer by layer through gas cluster ion beam (GCIB) etching and XPS analysis. These characterization results demonstrate that FDTS SAM film patterns based on the vapor deposition method are highly uniform because the vacuum and precise gas-delivery system exclude ambient environmental interference efficiently and ensure reaction process repeatability. AES and XPS techniques could be used for metrology applications in the semiconductor process with high-quality SAM microstructures and nanostructures.
Highlights
Introduction iationsThe development of semiconductor processing has been dictated by Moore’s law over the past 50 years, and the size of a typical metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) device will be reduced to 2 nm by EUV photolithography by 2024 [1,2]
For X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) with mapping capability, a smaller X-ray beam of 10 μm should be selected, allowing substantial chemical state information on FDTS Self-assembled monolayer (SAM) film patterns to be collected with decent spatial resolution
SAM film patterns were reconstructed through corresponding elements and chemical state feature peaks by Auger electron microscopy (AES) and XPS
Summary
Introduction iationsThe development of semiconductor processing has been dictated by Moore’s law over the past 50 years, and the size of a typical metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) device will be reduced to 2 nm by EUV photolithography by 2024 [1,2]. Various semiconductor materials have been utilized for high-performance semiconductor devices, including high-k hafnium oxide and Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. A few nanometers, as well as profiling film materials with precise spatial resolution, are highly desirable in the semiconductor fabrication process. The three-dimensional structures of a semiconductor device can be measured using a variety of existing metrology techniques, including 3D optical profilometry, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) [11,12,13,14,15,16]. For the surface chemistry of a material film, various techniques have been widely used for academic applications, including Fourier transfer infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) to measure the chemical bonds of surface molecules and ellipsometry for the investigation of surface optical properties. Auger electron microscopy (AES) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS)
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