Scanning TEM electron beam-induced current (STEM EBIC) imaging is a promising technique for providing high-resolution electronic and thermal contrast as a complement to TEM’s physical contrast. This article presents recent progress in using the focused ion beam (FIB) to prepare thin, electrically contacted cross-section samples for STEM EBIC imaging and in situ biasing. Techniques involving both standard Ga+ FIB and Xe+ plasma FIB (PFIB) are described.

This article discusses the tradeoffs associated with minimizing beam dose in a scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) and explains how to reduce beam exposure through subsampling and inpainting, a signal reconstruction technique that optimizes image quality and resolution. Although the method is described in the context of STEM imaging, it applies to any scanned imaging system.

The ability to discern the composition and placement of atoms in a sample makes TEM one of the most powerful characterization tools for microelectronic components. For many devices, however, the dynamics underlying normal operation do not displace atoms. Device function is, instead, mediated by electronic and thermal processes that have little effect on physical structure, necessitating additional tools to determine the causes of failure. In this article, the author presents results indicating that STEM EBIC, with the new SEEBIC mode, can provide electronic contrast that complements the physical-based contrast of STEM imaging. By identifying device features at higher risk of failure, the two methods may open a path to predictive failure analysis.

STEM-EBIC imaging, a nano-characterization technique, has been used in the study of electrically active defects, minority carrier diffusion length, surface recombination velocity, and inhomogeneities in Si pn junctions. In this article, the authors explain how they developed and built a STEM-EBIC system, which they then used to determine the junction location of an InGaN quantum well LED. They also developed a novel FIB-based sample preparation method and a custom sample holder, facilitating the simultaneous collection of Z-contrast, EBIC, and energy dispersive spectroscopy images. The relative position of the pn junction with respect to the quantum well was found to be 19 ± 3 nm from the center of well.

Advances in IC technology have made failure site localization extremely challenging. Through a series of case studies, the authors of this article show how such challenges can be overcome using EBIC/EBAC, current imaging, and nanoprobing. The cases involve a wide range of issues, including resistor chain defects, substrate leakage, microcracking, micro contamination, and open failures due to copper plating problems and missing vias.

This column provides a ten-year retrospective on laser-based fault isolation techniques and the important role of laser signal injection microscopes.

This article discusses sample preparation challenges that have impeded progress in producing bias-enabled TEM samples from electronic components, as well as strategies to mitigate these issues.

This article discusses the types of defects that occur in vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) and the tools typically used to detect them and identify the cause. It describes the basic design and operation of VCSELs and explains that most failures are due to dislocations in the crystal structure of the materials from which the devices are made. Of the various methods used to analyze such defects, electroluminescence (EL) is by far the most powerful as demonstrated in several EL images included in the article. The article also discusses the use of EBIC analysis, FIB cross-sectioning, and thermally induced voltage alteration (TIVA).

This article provides a qualitative overview of several new defect localization techniques, including charge-induced voltage alteration (CIVA), light-induced voltage alteration (LIVA), thermally-induced voltage alteration (TIVA), and Seebeck effect imaging (SEI). It explains how each method works in terms of the physics of signal generation and the types of images they produce. It also includes a summary highlighting the similarities and differences of each technique.

Four-dimensional scanning transmission electron microscopy (4D-STEM) is a spatially resolved electron diffraction technique that records the electron scattering distribution at each point of the electron beam raster, thereby producing a four-dimensional dataset. The final article in this series covers ptychography, a form of computational imaging that recovers the phase information imparted to an electron beam as it interacts with a specimen.

Technologies relatively new to failure analysis, like time-correlated photon counting, electro-optical probing, antireflective (AR) coating, Schlieren microscopy, and superconducting quantum interference (SQUID) devices are being leveraged to create faster, more powerful tools to meet increasingly difficult challenges in failure analysis. This article reviews recent advances and research in fault isolation and circuit repair.

Off-axis electron holography is a TEM-based imaging technique that reveals dopant anomalies and junction profiles in semiconductor devices. This article explains how the method works and how it is being used to visualize transistor source-drain regions, diffusion-related defects, and other features of interest in TEM samples. It also discusses related challenges and compares off-axis electron holography with other profiling techniques, particularly junction staining.

A scanning electron microscope system measures voltage contrast on device-under-test surfaces. This article addresses a limited set of applications that rely on voltage contrast (VC) measurements in SEM systems, showing how VC measurements can probe electrical activity running at speeds as high as 2 GHz on modern active integrated circuits.

Four-dimensional scanning transmission electron microscopy (4D-STEM) is a spatially resolved electron diffraction technique that records the electron scattering distribution at each point of the electron beam raster, thereby producing a four-dimensional dataset. This second installment of this series presents applications of 4D-STEM, including measurements of crystal orientation and phase, short- and medium-range order, and internal electromagnetic fields.

Four-dimensional scanning transmission electron microscopy (4D-STEM) is a spatially resolved electron diffraction technique that records the electron scattering distribution at each sampling point. 4D-STEM provides researchers with information that can be analyzed in a multitude of ways to characterize a sample’s structure, including imaging, strain measurement, and defect analysis. This article introduces the basics of the technique and some areas of application with an emphasis on semiconductor materials.

This article provides a high-level review of the tools and techniques used for backside analysis. It discusses the use of laser scanning and conventional microscopy, liquid and solid immersion lenses, photon emission microscopy (PEM), and laser-based fault isolation methods with emphasis on light-induced voltage alteration (LIVA). It explains how laser voltage probing is used for backside waveform acquisition and describes backside sample preparation and deprocessing techniques including parallel polishing and milling, laser chemical etching, and FIB circuit edit and modification.

Several technology-focused User's Groups met at ISTFA 2014 to discuss current issues and advances in their areas of interest. This article summarizes key discussion points from the Contactless Fault Isolation User's Group, the Nanoprobing User's Group, the Sample Prep/3-D Package User's Group, and the FIB User's Group.

A new and improved sample preparation technique was developed by Wang. This technique uses an FIB instrument for the 90° rotation of a small portion of the specimen on the original grid by taking advantage of static force. All sample preparation steps, including thin-section creation and sample tilting, can be accomplished in a single process. The procedure is monitored in a high-resolution FIB instrument to assure a 100% success rate. Figure 1 shows a scanning electron microscope image of a 3D TEM sample with two rotated sections. The original TEM sample is a lift-out sample laid on carbon film.

This article reviews the basic principles of scanning acoustic microscopy (SAM) and presents several case studies demonstrating its use in failure analysis and counterfeit detection. The FA case studies show how SAM is used to detect delamination, cracking, and manufacturing defects in ceramic chip capacitors and resistors, voids in a full-bridge rectifier, and a radiation-induced defect in a microprocessor. In cases involving counterfeit ICs, CSAM images reveal the presence of an abnormality on component packages, evidence of relabeling, and popcorn fractures indicative of the use of excessive heat and force to dislodge components from circuit board assemblies.

This column explains why transmission X-ray microscopy (TXM) and X-ray computed tomography (XCT) could become the methods of choice for defect localization in the coming years.