NIST Modifies & Improves Technique For Detecting Transistor Defects


Abstract "We utilize a frequency-modulated charge pumping methodology to measure quickly and conveniently single “charge per cycle” in highly scaled Si/SiO2 metal–oxide–semiconductor field effect transistors. This is indicative of detection and manipulation of a single interface trap spin species located at the boundary between the SiO2 gate dielectric and Si substrate (almost certainl... » read more

HBM, Nanosheet FETs Drive X-ray Fab Use


Paul Ryan, vice president and general manager of Bruker’s X-ray Business, sat down with Semiconductor Engineering to discuss the movement of x-ray metrology into manufacturing to better control nanosheet film stacks and solder bump quality. SE: Where are you seeing the greatest growth right now, and what are the critical drivers for your technology from the application side? Ryan: One b... » read more

Advanced High Throughput e-Beam Inspection With DirectScan


Optical inspection cannot resolve critical defects at advanced nodes and cannot detect subsurface defects. Especially at 7nm and below, many yield and reliability killer defects are the result of interactions between lithography, etch, and fill. These defects often will have part per billion (PPB) level fail rates. Conventional eBeam tools lack the throughput to measure PPB level fail rates. A ... » read more

Light-Emitting V-Pits: An Alternative Approach toward Luminescent Indium-Rich InGaN Quantum Dots


Abstract: "Realization of fully solid-state white light emitting devices requires high efficiency blue, green, and red emitters. However, challenges remain in boosting the low quantum efficiency of long wavelength group-III-nitride light emitters through conventional quantum well growth. Here, we demonstrate a new direct metal–organic chemical vapor deposition approach to grow In-rich InGa... » read more

A quantitative model for the bipolar amplification effect: A new method to determine semiconductor/oxide interface state densities


Abstract "We report on a model for the bipolar amplification effect (BAE), which enables defect density measurements utilizing BAE in metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors. BAE is an electrically detected magnetic resonance (EDMR) technique, which has recently been utilized for defect identification because of the improved EDMR sensitivity and selectivity to interface defects.... » read more

Fabs Drive Deeper Into Machine Learning


Advanced machine learning is beginning to make inroads into yield enhancement methodology as fabs and equipment makers seek to identify defectivity patterns in wafer images with greater accuracy and speed. Each month a wafer fabrication factory produces tens of millions of wafer-level images from inspection, metrology, and test. Engineers must analyze that data to improve yield and to reject... » read more

The Importance Of Product Burn-In Test


Product burn-in (BI) is an indispensable step in the production test flow to ensure good quality and a properly functioning product for the customer. Amkor takes pride in rating ‘quality delivered to the customer’ as one of the highest corporate virtues. See figure 1. Fig. 1: Defects per Million (DPM) and DPM goal reported over five years. Burned-in integrated circuits (ICs) have a ... » read more

Where Imperfections Lead To Opportunity


By Evelyn Hu It is natural to hold a bias that assumes that the highest-quality devices are those formed from the most perfect materials (crystalline, well-ordered, stoichiometric). Therefore, it is ironic, and perhaps counterintuitive, that particular kinds of defects, such as vacancies (missing atoms) in semiconductor materials, can form the building blocks of a new quantum information tec... » read more

Understanding Optical Inspection For CIS


The demand for smartphone cameras, video conferencing, surveillance and autonomous driving has fueled explosive growth of CMOS image sensor (CIS) manufacturing in the last decade. While CIS becomes an increasingly important element in the production of today’s consumer electronics, there are unique challenges in production that must be addressed. As pixel sizes shrink, we see an inverse relat... » read more

Demystifying ADC


ADC stands for automatic defect classification. It’s a software that classifies defects based on image and metadata such as location, ROI, and other information associated with a defect. ADC is not a mysterious black box that’s impossible to understand. Instead, ADC classifies defects the same way a human operator does, by first being trained by an expert. Then, just like human classificati... » read more

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