Applications of Optical Force Microscopy to MicroelectronicsTechnology

这个加速奖的目的是为新的研究是发展 一个计算机控制的光学力显微镜， 用于微电子器件表征的诊断工具。 最近开发的光学力显微镜采用了锋利的尖端 其在表面上扫描，并且其偏转由货车引起 作用在样品表面原子之间的德瓦尔斯力， 该尖端由第二尖端监控。 的灵敏度 仪器的力场驱动器的小变化，从 隧穿电流对距离的指数依赖性 这两个提示。 PI和他的团队在以下方面取得了重大进展： 光学力显微镜的发展，并在纳入 灵敏的半导体二极管激光器作为测量设备。 他们提出的方法的新奇在于它使用了一种 瞬逝边缘电探测的无损技术 场存在于微电子器件的表面上。 通过使用 反馈系统，它可以遵循给定设备的拓扑结构， 分辨率优于100 nm。 这将使它能够执行几个 测试新IC或故障IC的重要任务目前无法完成 没有侵入性的探测 例如，它可以测试 埋在钝化层下的互连，以及 双极和CMOS附近的电场分布 晶体管 该项目将开发一个计算机化系统， 显示正在调查的结构的体系结构， 高分辨率彩色监视器。

The objective of this Expedited Award for Novel Research is to develop a computer-controlled optical force microscope that will serve as a diagnostic tool for the characterization of microelectronic devices. The recently developed optical force microscope employs a sharp tip which is scanned across a surface, and its deflection caused by van der Waals forces acting between the surface atoms of the sample and the tip is monitored by a second tip. The sensitivity of this instrument to small variations in the force field drives from the exponential dependence of a tunneling current on the distance between these two tips. The PI and his group have made major advances in development of the optical forces microscope and in the incorporation of sensitive semiconductor diode lasers as the measurement devices. The novelty of their proposed approach is that it uses a nondestructive technique to probe the evanescent fringing electrical fields existing on the surface of a microelectronic device. By using a feedback system, it can follow the topography of a given device to a resolution better than 100 nm. This will enable it to perform several important tasks in testing a new or failed IC not currently possible without invasive probing. For example, it would enable testing of interconnects buried under a passivating layer, and mapping of the electric field distributions in the vicinity of bipolar and CMOS transistors. The project will develop a computerized system that will display the architecture of the structure under investigation on a high-resolution color monitor.