Thin Films Characterization by Ultra Trace Metrology
- CEA-LETI, MINATEC, 17 rue des Martyrs, 38054 Grenoble cedex 9 (France)
- ST Microelectronics, 850 rue J. Monnet, 38926 Crolles cedex (France)
- Freescale Semiconducteurs, 870 rue J. Monnet, 38926 Crolles cedex (France)
- Rigaku corporation, 14-8 Akaoji-cho, Takatsuki-shi, Osaka 569-1146 (Japan)
Sensitive and accurate characterization of thin films used in nanoelectronics, thinner than a few nm, represents a challenge for many conventional methods, especially when considering in-line control. With capabilities in the E10 at/cm{sup 2} (<1/10 000 of a mono layer), methods usually dedicated to contamination analysis appear promising, especially TXRF thanks to its non invasive and ease of use aspects, and to its measurement speed and mapping capability. This study shows that the range of linear results from TXRF can be extended to thicknesses of a few nm when using an incident angle higher than the critical angle of the analyzed film. Thus, despite degraded performances in terms of low detection limit, TXRF can provide a direct and very sensitive reading of some critical deposition processes. A dynamic repeatability better than 1% (standard deviation) has been obtained for the control of a 0.6 nm Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} tunnel oxide deposited on a magnetic stack. On the other hand, composition analysis by TXRF, and especially the detection of minor elements into thin films, requires the use of a specific incident angle to optimize sensitivity. Under the best conditions, determination of the composition of Co -based self aligned barriers (CoWP and CoWMoPB films with Co concentration >80%) is done with a precision of 6% on P, 8% on Mo and 13% on W (standard deviation)
- OSTI ID:
- 21032711
- Journal Information:
- AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 931, Issue 1; Conference: 2007 international conference on frontiers of characterization and metrology, Gaithersburg, MD (United States), 27-29 Mar 2007; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.2799366; (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-243X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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