Gianpietro Carnevale

Strain determination in silicon microstructures by combined convergent beam electron diffraction, process simulation, and micro-Raman spectroscopy

Test structures consisting of shallow trench isolation (STI) structures are fabricated using advanced silicon (Si) technology. Different process parameters and geometrical features are implemented to investigate the residual mechanical stress in the structures. A technology computer aided design homemade tool, IMPACT, is upgraded and optimized to yield strain fields in deep submicron complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor devices. Residual strain in the silicon substrate is measured with micro-Raman spectroscopy (μ-RS) and/or convergent beam electron diffraction (CBED) for large (25 μm) and medium size (2 μm), while only CBED is used for deep submicron STI (0.22 μm). We propose a methodology combining CBED and technology computer aided design (TCAD) with μ-RS to assess the accuracy of the CBED measurements and TCAD calculations on the widest structures. The method is extended to measure (by CBED) and calculate (by TCAD) the strain tensor in the smallest structures, out of the reach of the μ-RS technique....

Application of convergent beam electron diffraction to two-dimensional strain mapping in silicon devices

A method of obtaining quantitative two-dimensional (2D) maps of strain by the convergent beam electron diffraction technique in a transmission electron microscope is described. It is based on the automatic acquisition of a series of diffraction patterns generated from digital rastering the electron spot in a matrix of points within a selected area of the sample. These patterns are stored in a database and the corresponding strain tensor at each point is calculated, thus yielding a 2D strain map. An example of application of this method to cross-sectioned cells fabricated for the 0.15 μm technology of flash memories is reported.

Investigation on indium diffusion in silicon

The diffusion of indium in silicon has been investigated in the temperature range of 800 to 1000 °C by using secondary ion mass spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Our data indicate that, for implants at 150 keV through a thin oxide layer (19 nm), the amount of dopant that leaves the silicon is only controlled by the flow of indium that reaches the surface, being both the segregation coefficient at the interface SiO2/Si and the indium diffusion coefficient in the oxide favorable to the out-diffusion. Comparison between experimental and simulated profiles has evidenced that, besides the expected transient enhanced diffusion occurring in the early phases of the annealing, a heavy loss of dopant by out-diffusion was associated with a high In diffusivity near the surface. Measurements of the hole concentration in uniformly doped silicon on insulator samples performed in the temperature range of 700 to 1100 °C indicate that indium solubility is equal or greater than 1.8×1018 cm−3; this value is ...

TEM/CBED determination of strain in silicon-based submicrometric electronic devices

The convergent beam electron diffraction technique (CBED) of the transmission electron microscopy (TEM) has been employed to determine the strain distribution along a cutline parallel to the padoxide/Si interface in a 0.80 micron wide recessed-LOCOS structure. The values of the components of the strain tensor so obtained have been compared with those computed by two simulator codes. It has been found that both the LOCOS morphology and the strain distribution deduced from TEM images and TEM/CBED patterns, respectively, were in agreement with the simulation results, if some oxidation-related parameters were modified.

Crystal defects and junction properties in the evolution of device fabrication technology

In this paper, the correlation between dislocation density and transistor leakage current is demonstrated. The stress evolution and the generation of defects are studied as a function of the process step, and experimental evidence is given of the role of structure geometry in determining the stress level and hence defect formation. Finally, the role of high-dose implantations and the related silicon amorphization and recrystallization is investigated.

Coupled Mechanical and 3-D Monte Carlo Simulation of Silicon Nanowire MOSFETs

In this paper we report on a general methodology to investigate nanowire MOSFETs based on the coupling of mechanical simulation with 3-D real-space Monte Carlo simulation. The Monte Carlo transport model accounts for both strain silicon and quantum mechanical effects. Mechanical strain effects are accounted for through an appropriate change of the anisotropic band structure computed with the empirical pseudopotential method. Quantum effects are instead included by means of a quantum mechanical correction of the potential coming from the self-consistent solution of the Schrodinger equation. This methodology has been then applied to the simulation of a test case silicon nanowire n-MOSFET. Impact of mechanical strain and quantum effects on the drive current is investigated. It is shown that only the inclusion of strain and quantum mechanical effects allows a good agreement with experimental data, demonstrating the validity of the proposed methodology for ultimate devices.

Raman stress maps from finite-element models of silicon structures

Raman spectroscopy finds applications in many research fields to monitor stress on a micrometric scale. Unfortunately, the interpretation of Raman maps is always complicated by the tensorial nature of stress and by averaging effects due to the finite spatial resolution of the technique. Usually, the interpretation is either purely qualitative or based on thorough simplifications. In this paper we present an approach that compares the experimental data with a virtual experiment using a finite-element model. The method is applied to the study of the stress generated in a microelectronic device during the manufacturing process. The results are used both as a feedback and a validation for the modeling and also for the interpretation of the Raman data.

Convergent beam electron diffraction investigation of strain induced by Ti self-aligned silicides in shallow trench Si isolation structures

The deformation induced onto silicon by the formation of Ti self-aligned silicides (salicides) in shallow trench isolation structures has been investigated by the convergent beam electron diffraction technique (CBED) in the transmission electron microscope (TEM). The splitting of the high order Laue zone (HOLZ) lines in the CBED patterns taken in TEM cross sections close to the salicide/silicon interface has been explained assuming that the salicide grains induce a local bending of the lattice planes of the underlying matrix. This bending, which affects in opposite sense the silicon areas below adjacent grains, decreases with the distance from the interface, eventually vanishing at a depth of 300–400nm. The proposed strain field has been implemented into a fully dynamical simulation of the CBED patterns and has proved to be able to reproduce both the asymmetry of the HOLZ line splitting and the associated subsidiary fringes. This model is confirmed by the shift of a Bragg contour observed in large angle C...

Influence of the silicon nitride oxidation on the performances of NCLAD isolation

A Deal and Grove model for the oxidation of the nitride isolation masks has been found, and has been implemented in the 2D Process simulator IMPACT-4 [2]. This implementation permitted to study the effects of this oxidation on the performances of NCLAD LOCOS/Recessed-LOCOS isolation structures.

Technology and Device Modeling in Micro and Nano-electronics: Current and Future Challenges

The number of physical effects that have to be taken into account to accurately model and design current and future micro- and nano-electronics devices is continuously increasing. At the same time, the importance of the coupling among them is increasing as well. An accurate simulation of such effects with strong interactions is often non-trivial and in many cases a satisfactory solution is not yet available. Two challenging problems are presented in more detail: the first one refers to the thermomechanical problem of silicon oxidation, the second is the electrical coupling which occurs in strained silicon substrate.