Local Lattice Strain Measurement Using Geometric Phase Analysis of Dark Field Images from Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy

Since strain engineering plays a key role in semiconductor technology development, a reliable and reproducible technique to measure local strain in devices is necessary for process development and failure analysis. In this paper, geometric phase analysis of high angle annular dark field - scanning transmission electron microscope images is presented as an effective technique to measure local strains in the current node of Si based transistors.