Abstract Nanoscale microscopy is an important technique in analyzing current semiconductor processes and devices. Many of the current microscopy techniques can render high resolution images of morphology and, in some cases, elemental information. However, techniques are still needed to give definitive nanoscale mapping of compound materials utilized in semiconductor processes such as Si3N4, SiO2, SiGe, and low-k materials. Photo-induced force microscopy (PiFM) combines IR spectroscopy with atomic force microscopy (AFM) to provide concurrent information on topography and chemical mapping. PiFM measures the attractive dipole-dipole photo-response between the tip and the sample and does not rely on repulsive force arising from absorption-based sample expansion. As such, PiFM works well with many of the inorganic semiconductor compounds (with low thermal expansion coefficients) as well as organic materials (with high thermal expansion coefficients) [1]. In this study, various examples of nanoscale chemical mapping of semiconductor samples (surfaces processed via directed self-assembly (DSA), strain in SiGe/SiO2 structure, photoresist, etc.) will be presented, all demonstrating ~ 10 nm spatial resolution

Abstract Carrier mobility enhancement through local strain in silicon is a means of improving transistor performance. Among the scanning probe microscopy based techniques, tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) has shown some promising results in measuring strain. However, TERS is known to depend critically on the quality of the plasmonic tip, which is difficult to control. In this study, a test structure is used to demonstrate the capability of photo-induced force microscopy with infrared excitation (IR PiFM) in direct measurement of strain with approximately 10 nm spatial resolution. For SiGe pitch less than about 800 nm, the region between the SiGe lines should maintain residual strain. For a region with SiGe pitch of 1000 nm, it is verified that the strain between the SiGe lines is fully relaxed. PiFM promises to be a powerful tool for studying nanoscale strain in diverse material.