AVS 51st International Symposium
    Manufacturing Science and Technology Wednesday Sessions
       Session MS+AS-WeA

Paper MS+AS-WeA4
Crystalline Structure and Stress Characterization in Thin Films by Means of Optical Spectroscopy

Wednesday, November 17, 2004, 3:00 pm, Room 303B

Session: Non-Destructive Analysis and Metrology for Advanced Manufacturing
Presenter: G. Conti, Applied Materials, Inc.
Authors: G. Conti, Applied Materials, Inc.
Y. Uritsky, Applied Materials, Inc.
Correspondent: Click to Email
Nondestructive characterization techniques are crucially important in developing new materials. Raman Spectroscopy is a powerful and versatile tool. Its capabilities range from structural identification and conformation of molecules, to identification of crystalline structure of materials. This power and versatility has led to its progressively more extensive applications to semiconductor industry as an analytical tool. In this paper we present some applications of Raman analysis to the characterization of thin films. The present challenge in thin films characterization is on one hand the determination of the film composition and/or crystalline phase; on the other the stress to which the film is subjected as it is deposited under different temperatures, chemical conditions of depositions, and substrates. In the first part, we report on the Raman characterization of silicides films generated on a Si surface. In particular we determine the stoichiometric composition of the silicides, their crystalline phase and their thickness. In the second part, we determine the stress of Si deposited on SiGe. The main advantage of Raman versus conventional X-ray diffraction is the ability to measure strain in thin layers (from 5 nm and above). We show here that Raman is the ideal method for characterizing strained cap Si layers with critical thickness in the range of 100-200 Å., and for characterizing stresses in quantum wires, quantum dots and other hetero-structures, which are becoming more and more important for fabricating devices with enhanced performance.