SECONDARY ION MASS SPECTROMETER ANALYSIS OF DEFECTS IN SEMICONDUCTORS

TRADITIONAL METHODS, SUCH AS CHEMICAL ETCHING AND TEM, FOR CHARACTERIZING DEFECTS IN SEMICONDUCTORS ARE NOT ENTIRELY ADEQUATE AT THE VLSI/ULSI LEVEL OF INTEGRATION. SIMS COUPLED WITH DEFECT DECORATION BY A SIMS-SENSITIVE ELEMENT IS PROPOSED AS A COMPLEMENTARY METHOD. THE OBJECTIVES OF THIS PHASE I PROJECT ARE: (1) TO DETERMINE HOW WELL SIMS CANDETECT OXYGEN PRECIPITATES, DISLOCATION LOOPS, AND STACKING FAULTS IN SILICON WHEN A SIMS-SENSITIVE ELEMENT IS USED TO DECORATE THE DEFECTS; AND (2) TO DETERMINE THE QUANTITATIVE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE SIMS MEASUREMENT OF THE DECORATIVE ELEMENT AND THE DEFECT DENSITY AND SIZE. THEPRIMARY DECORATIVE ELEMENT TO BE STUDIED IS FLUORINE.