AVS 45th International Symposium
    Applied Surface Science Division Tuesday Sessions
       Session AS-TuM

Paper AS-TuM8
SEM Sample Preparation Using Ion Sputtering

Tuesday, November 3, 1998, 10:40 am, Room 307

Session: Sample Preparation and Tricks of the Trade
Presenter: J.R. Kingsley, Charles Evans & Associates
Authors: J.R. Kingsley, Charles Evans & Associates
X. Lu, Charles Evans & Associates
Correspondent: Click to Email
Wet chemical etching has long been the preferred method for the delineation of features in cross sections of Integrated Circuits. Dry chemical etching, or plasma etching, has also been used as an effective tool for the selective removal of material. One limitation of these techniques is a lack of reproducibility due to such factors as wet etch age, temperature, etch time and composition. Plasma condition changes due to the size and number of samples, the other materials present, and the long time stability of the plasma adversely affect dry chemical methods. In this paper we characterize the use of focused ions, in combination with electron microscopy, to circumvent the inherent inconsistent results noted above. By using focused ions as the etching source in the same vacuum as the imaging source, a reproducible stop point can hopefully be obtained.