Abstract
This paper outlines a method that has been found to effectively reduce the charging effect on imide surfaces during Auger analysis. This methodology enables in-house Auger analysis on insulators in the semiconductor industry. The compositional analysis at the imide surface is as critical as analysis at the bond pad surface due to its impact on the reliability of the product. Current practice is the use of a thin Au/Pd coating to reduce the charging effect, but there are some drawbacks such as the creation of artifacts due to the presence of Au/Pd peaks in the spectrum. Apart from that, the signal to noise ratio (S/N) is reduced, masking the desired signal. When this scenario occurs, we implement a new combination method of a low angle incident beam along with special sample preparation. This method provides a spectrum with good S/N and no charging effects and eliminates the Au/Pd peak artifacts.
