skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Correction of absorption-edge artifacts in polychromatic X-ray tomography in a scanning electron microscope for 3D microelectronics

Abstract

X-ray tomography is widely used in materials science. However, X-ray scanners are often based on polychromatic radiation that creates artifacts such as dark streaks. We show this artifact is not always due to beam hardening. It may appear when scanning samples with high-Z elements inside a low-Z matrix because of the high-Z element absorption edge: X-rays whose energy is above this edge are strongly absorbed, violating the exponential decay assumption for reconstruction algorithms and generating dark streaks. A method is proposed to limit the absorption edge effect and is applied on a microelectronic case to suppress dark streaks between interconnections.

Authors:
;  [1];  [2]
  1. Université Grenoble Alpes, F-38000 Grenoble (France)
  2. STMicroelectronics, 850 rue Jean Monnet, 38926 Crolles (France)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
22392316
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Review of Scientific Instruments
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 86; Journal Issue: 1; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 0034-6748
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY; ABSORPTION; ALGORITHMS; BEAMS; CORRECTIONS; MATERIALS; MICROELECTRONICS; SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY; TOMOGRAPHY; X RADIATION

Citation Formats

Laloum, D., E-mail: david.laloum@cea.fr, CEA, LETI, MINATEC Campus, 17 rue des Martyrs, 38054 Grenoble Cedex 9, STMicroelectronics, 850 rue Jean Monnet, 38926 Crolles, Printemps, T., Bleuet, P., CEA, LETI, MINATEC Campus, 17 rue des Martyrs, 38054 Grenoble Cedex 9, and Lorut, F. Correction of absorption-edge artifacts in polychromatic X-ray tomography in a scanning electron microscope for 3D microelectronics. United States: N. p., 2015. Web. doi:10.1063/1.4905117.
Laloum, D., E-mail: david.laloum@cea.fr, CEA, LETI, MINATEC Campus, 17 rue des Martyrs, 38054 Grenoble Cedex 9, STMicroelectronics, 850 rue Jean Monnet, 38926 Crolles, Printemps, T., Bleuet, P., CEA, LETI, MINATEC Campus, 17 rue des Martyrs, 38054 Grenoble Cedex 9, & Lorut, F. Correction of absorption-edge artifacts in polychromatic X-ray tomography in a scanning electron microscope for 3D microelectronics. United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4905117
Laloum, D., E-mail: david.laloum@cea.fr, CEA, LETI, MINATEC Campus, 17 rue des Martyrs, 38054 Grenoble Cedex 9, STMicroelectronics, 850 rue Jean Monnet, 38926 Crolles, Printemps, T., Bleuet, P., CEA, LETI, MINATEC Campus, 17 rue des Martyrs, 38054 Grenoble Cedex 9, and Lorut, F. 2015. "Correction of absorption-edge artifacts in polychromatic X-ray tomography in a scanning electron microscope for 3D microelectronics". United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4905117.
@article{osti_22392316,
title = {Correction of absorption-edge artifacts in polychromatic X-ray tomography in a scanning electron microscope for 3D microelectronics},
author = {Laloum, D., E-mail: david.laloum@cea.fr and CEA, LETI, MINATEC Campus, 17 rue des Martyrs, 38054 Grenoble Cedex 9 and STMicroelectronics, 850 rue Jean Monnet, 38926 Crolles and Printemps, T. and Bleuet, P. and CEA, LETI, MINATEC Campus, 17 rue des Martyrs, 38054 Grenoble Cedex 9 and Lorut, F.},
abstractNote = {X-ray tomography is widely used in materials science. However, X-ray scanners are often based on polychromatic radiation that creates artifacts such as dark streaks. We show this artifact is not always due to beam hardening. It may appear when scanning samples with high-Z elements inside a low-Z matrix because of the high-Z element absorption edge: X-rays whose energy is above this edge are strongly absorbed, violating the exponential decay assumption for reconstruction algorithms and generating dark streaks. A method is proposed to limit the absorption edge effect and is applied on a microelectronic case to suppress dark streaks between interconnections.},
doi = {10.1063/1.4905117},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22392316}, journal = {Review of Scientific Instruments},
issn = {0034-6748},
number = 1,
volume = 86,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Jan 15 00:00:00 EST 2015},
month = {Thu Jan 15 00:00:00 EST 2015}
}