Metallization high resolution

The STEM is unrivaled in its ability to obtain high-resolution imaging combined with microanalysis from specimens that can be fashioned from almost any solid. Major applications include the analysis of metals, ceramics, electronic devices... 

An imponant component of the complex metallizations for both semiconductor devices and magnetic media is the diffusion barrier, which is included to prevent interdiffiision between layers or diffusion from overlyii layers into the substrate. A good example is placement of a TiN barrier under an Al metallization. Figure 7a illustrates the results of an SNMSd high-resolution depth profile measurement of a TiN diffusion barrier inserted between the Al metallization and the Si substrate. The profile clearly exhibits an uneven distribution of Si in the Al metallization and has provided a clear, accurate measurement of the composition of the underlying TiN layer. Both measurements are difficult to accomplish by other means and dem-... 

A versatile Laser-SNMS instrument consists of a versatile microfocus ion gun, a sputtering ion gun, a liquid metal ion gun, a pulsed flood electron gun, a resonant laser system consisting of a pulsed Nd YAG laser pumping two dye lasers, a non-resonant laser system consisting of a high-power excimer or Nd YAG laser, a computer-controlled high-resolution sample manipulator on which samples can be cooled or heated, a video and electron imaging system, a vacuum lock for sample introduction, and a TOF mass spectrometer. 

In recent years there is a growing interest in the study of vibrational properties of both clean and adsorbate covered surfaces of metals. For several years two complementary experimental methods have been used to measure the dispersion relations of surface phonons on different crystal faces. These are the scattering of thermal helium beams" and the high-resolution electron-energy-loss-spectroscopy. ... 

---