A TEM-Based Thermal and Electronic Imaging System

The transmission electron microscope (TEM) is the standard high resolution tool for imaging microelectronics. Despite its impressive sensitivity to physical structure (the type, number, and arrangement of atoms), TEM is remarkably inept at detecting electronic and thermal signals, even when equipped with expensive spectroscopic attachments. Electronic and thermal structure determines device function and failure, but in a functional device this structure typically does not provide a TEM-detectable signal. Standard TEM, for instance, cannot distinguish a metal from an insulator, or a hot wire from a cold one. NanoElectronic Imaging, Inc. (NEI) is working to commercialize imaging systems based on scanning TEM electron beam-induced current (STEM EBIC) imaging, a technique that maps electronic and thermal properties at high spatial resolution and thus can complement the physical imaging provided by TEM. In Phase I of this SBIR project, NEI successfully demonstrated STEM EBIC temperature mapping with high spatial and temperature resolution. NEI have also demonstrated STEM EBIC mapping of electronic properties such as conductivity, electrical potential, electric field, and work function.  In Phase II, NEI will develop a complete turn-key STEM EBIC system capable of routinely mapping these otherwise invisible signals. This system will incorporate custom substrates, optimized sample-preparation techniques, low-noise STEM EBIC amplification electronics, and specialized software for data acquisition and analysis. The completed system will streamline STEM EBIC characterization, making it accessible to the non-expert. STEM EBIC images of real-world microelectronic components provide meaningful, actionable information, and can be acquired with little modification of existing characterization workflows.