Wet-chemical etching of FIB lift-out TEM lamellae for damage-free analysis of 3-D nanostructures

Turner, Emily M.; Sapkota, Keshab R.; Hatem, Christopher; Lu, Ping; Wang, George T.; Jones, Kevin S.

doi:10.1016/j.ultramic.2020.113049

Wet-chemical etching of FIB lift-out TEM lamellae for damage-free analysis of 3-D nanostructures

Journal Article · Wed Jun 17 00:00:00 EDT 2020 · Ultramicroscopy

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ultramic.2020.113049· OSTI ID:1667402

Turner, Emily M. ^[1]; Sapkota, Keshab R. ^[2]; Hatem, Christopher ^[3]; Lu, Ping ^[2]; ^[2]; Jones, Kevin S. ^[1]

Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States)
Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
Applied Materials, Inc., Gloucester, MA (United States)

Reducing ion beam damage from the focused ion beam (FIB) during fabrication of cross sections is a well-known challenge for materials characterization, especially cross sectional characterization of nanostructures. To address this, a new method has been developed for cross section fabrication enabling high resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis of 3-D nanostructures free of surrounding material and free of damage detectable by TEM analysis. Before FIB processing, nanopillars are encapsulated in a sacrificial oxide which acts as a protective layer during FIB milling. Furthermore, the cross sectional TEM lamella containing the nanopillars is then mounted and thinned with some modifications to conventional FIB sample preparation that provide stability for the lamella during the following wet-chemical dip etch. The wet-chemical etch of the TEM lamella removes the sacrificial oxide layer, freeing the nanopillars from any material that would obscure TEM imaging. Both high resolution TEM and aberration corrected scanning TEM images of Si/SiGe pillars with diameters down to 30 nm demonstrate the successful application of this approach.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC04-94AL85000; NA0003525

OSTI ID:: 1667402

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1811009

Report Number(s):: SAND--2020-8741J; 690106

Journal Information:: Ultramicroscopy, Journal Name: Ultramicroscopy Vol. 216; ISSN 0304-3991

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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