SBIR Phase I: Rapid-scanning Ultrafast Imaging Microscope for Material Inspection

The broader/commercial impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will develop and demonstrate a novel imaging microscopy technique for next-generation semiconductor defect inspection and material characterization. The technique is based on ultrafast spectroscopy and is uniquely able to measure functional material parameters over a rapidly raster-scanned image. The semiconductor industry relies on process control to maintain high yield and to prevent the propagation of faults through the manufacturing process. Semiconductor inspection represents a market of nearly $5 B in size and generates an estimated 15% of spending in the semiconductor industry. As the materials used in semiconductor devices evolve, so too must the inspection techniques. Many next-generation materials for various applications, such as solar energy and displays, are not pristine single crystals, and their inspection requires new technologies. The proposed project will advance the development of the next-generation materials. The intellectual merit of this project is to investigate translation of real-time imaging via ultrafast spectroscopy. The primary challenge of this project is that ultrafast spectroscopy scans at a single point typically take seconds to minutes, and a useful imaging system must raster a point excitation over a wide area containing thousands of pixels. This Phase I effort will develop a method and metrics for this technique, using images with substantially fewer samples. The project will explore methods to measure trapped states and defects that degrade semiconductor functionality. Performance goals include accelerating the speed of single-point spectroscopy by two orders of magnitude. Longer-term goals include integration of ultrafast spectroscopy with microscopy for materials analysis. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.