KEYWORDS: Nondestructive evaluation, Dielectrics, Thin films, Monte Carlo methods, X-rays, Electron beams, Silicon, Aluminum, Silica, Scanning electron microscopy
In this work a non-destructive method for measuring the thickness of the dielectric layers consisting of silicon dioxide and silicon nitride has been developed using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDS). Rising in accelerating voltage of electron beam leads to increasing in the depth of generation of the characteristic X-ray. If the ratio of the signal intensity of one of the substrate’s elements to the noise equal to 3 suggests that the generation’s depth of the characteristic X-ray coincides with the thickness of the overlying film. Dependence of the overlying film's thickness on the accelerating voltage can be plotted. Validation of the results was carried out by using the equation of Anderson-Hassler. The generation’s volume of the characteristic X-Ray was simulated by CASINO program. The simulations results are in good agreement with experimental results for small thicknesses.
During failure analysis of integrated circuits (IC), it is often necessary to have opportunity to inspect surface of die. But modern IC processing technology often provide integration of number of overlaping dies in one package (3D package type). In this case upper die complicate access to low die. Thus finding techniques which provide opportunity to inspect surface of each die is actual. In present work the approaches to a die decoupling based on the exposure to fuming nitric acid (FNA) and temperature cycling of IC are considered. The experiments, carried out for 32 GB flash-drive, have shown the possibility of applying mentioned approaches to a die decoupling.
During failure analysis of modern integrated circuits it might be necessary to carry out investigations, including both analysis of the die topology and the input of electrical signals on its contact pads. However, during access to the die the contact pads might be damaged due to different factors. In present work several types of damaged contact pads and experimental investigations on its reconstructions by electrochemical deposition of silver and copper are discussed.
During a failure analysis of integrated circuits, containing non-volatile memory, it is often necessary to determine its contents while Standard memory reading procedures are not applicable. This article considers how the state of NVM cells with floating gate can be determined using scanning probe microscopy. Samples preparation and measuring procedure are described with the example of Microchip microcontrollers with the EPROM memory (PIC12C508) and flash-EEPROM memory (PIC16F876A).
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.