SBIR Phase II: Focused Beam Total Reflection X-Ray Fluorescence Analysis Using Doubly-Curved Crystals

该小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第二阶段项目旨在满足微电子行业对改进晶圆污染分析的需求。晶片污染控制对于超大规模集成电路（ULSI）技术是至关重要的，并且存在对具有比常规全X射线荧光（TXRF）方法更高的灵敏度和空间分辨率的非破坏性分析工具的强烈需求。一种新的技术，聚焦光束TXRF，可以满足这一重要的市场需求。基于点聚焦环形晶体光学，聚焦光束TXRF将提高空间分辨率的一个因素超过100，并提供30倍更好的检测灵敏度为本地污染物的Si相比，传统的TXRF方法。该技术还具有用于Si上的低水平Al、Na和其他低Z元素分析的潜力，这是常规TXRF和其他技术不能有效解决的。在这个项目中，初步聚焦光束TXRF数据将收集使用WL 1激发提供的环形Si（220）晶体，以证明提高灵敏度和分辨率的过渡金属检测。理论计算也将进行，以确定在10^9至10^10原子/cm ^2水平上检测Al和Na用于晶片污染控制的可行性。聚焦束TXRF分析在微电子工业中具有商业应用，用于晶片污染控制，包括具有高分辨率的局部和均匀污染物。这些污染物包括许多重要元素，如过渡金属、Al、Na和其它低Z元素。通过能够识别这些污染物，可以提高硅晶片的质量。 这将为一个数十亿美元的行业节省大量成本。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project proposes to meet the demand from the microelectronics industry for improved wafer contamination analysis. Wafer contamination control is critical for Ultra Large Scale Integrated (ULSI) technology and there is a strong demand for a non-destructive analytical tool with improved sensitivity and spatial resolution over the conventional total x-ray fluorescence (TXRF) method. A new technique, focused beam TXRF, can meet this important market need. Based on point-focusing toroidal crystal optics, focused beam TXRF will improve the spatial resolution by a factor of more than 100 and provide 30 times better detection sensitivity for local contaminants on Si as compared to the conventional TXRF method. This technique also has potential for low-level Al, Na and other low Z elements analysis on Si that cannot be addressed effectively by the conventional TXRF and other techniques. In this project, preliminary focused beam TXRF data will be collected using WL1 excitation provided by a toroidal Si (220) crystal to demonstrate the improvement of sensitivity and resolution for transition metal detection. Theoretical calculation will be also carried out to determine the feasibility for Al and Na detection for wafer contamination control at 10^ 9 to 10^10 atoms/cm^2 level.Focused beam TXRF analysis has commercial applications in the microelectronics industry for wafer contamination control including localized and homogeneous contaminants with high resolution. These contaminants include many important elements such as transition metals, Al, Na and other low Z elements. By being able to identify these contaminants, the quality of silicon wafers can be improved. This will be a tremendous cost savings to a multi-billion dollar industry.