SBIR Phase I: Electro-Optic Sensor for Real-Time Defect Detection During Integrated Circuits (IC) and Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) Wafer Growth

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This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to develop a novel methodology for real time (in-situ) non-destructive detection of defects and damage at micron and sub-micron length scales. The objectives of this research are (a) to demonstrate detection of defects in semi-conductor thin-films and micro-structured materials by generating and detecting high-frequency elastic waves, and analyzing the acoustic response; and (b) to design a damage detection technique for real time inspection of integrated circuits (IC) and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) during wafer growth. The method utilizes a high-speed polymeric electro-optic (EO) integrated sensor to analyze the acoustic response due to a pulsed laser induced elastic waves. The sensor is an interferometer that has an EO element built in, which is used to down convert gigahertz range (GHz) acoustic response signals to lower-frequency (kHz to MHz) detectable signal by heterodyning. The commercial application of this work is real time (in-situ) defect detection during IC and MEMS wafer growth. Current wafer technology utilizes high-resolution lithography and expensive, time-consuming processing steps. Early stage detection of defects using the proposed method will result in high-yield and low-cost wafer manufacturing.