Part II: Thin Film Characterization - physics.science.cmu...
Transcript of Part II: Thin Film Characterization - physics.science.cmu...
210441 Physics of Thin Films
Part II: Thin Film Characterization
1. Introduction to Thin Film Characterization Techniques
2. Structural characterization: SEM, TEM, AFM, STM
3. Chemical characterization: AES, SIMS, RBS, XRD, XPS, XRF
4. Thickness characterization: Optical techniques, stylus profilometry,
etc.
Referenced Textbooks and Articles
1. M. Ohring, The Materials Science of Thin Films, Academic Press,
San Diego (1992)
2. J.I. Goldstein, D.E. Newbury, P. Echlin, D.C. Joy, C. Fiori and
E. Lifshin, Scanning Electron Microscopy and X-Ray Microanalysis,
Plenum, New York (1981)
3. W.A. Pliskin and S.J. Zanin, in Handbook of Thin Films Technology,
eds. L.I. Maissel and R. Glang, McGraw-Hill, New York (1970)
210441 Physics of Thin Films
General details of thin film characterization instruments
Size: - varies from a portable desktop interferrometer to the
50-ft long accerlerator and beam line of a Rutherford
backscattering (RBS) facility
Cost: - ranges from the modest cost of test instruments required
to measure electrical resistance of films to the approximate
$1,000,000 price tag of a commercial SIMS spectrometer.
Operating environment:
- varies from the ambient in the measurement of film thickness
to the 10-10-torr vacuum required for the measurement
of film surface composition.
Sophistication:
- At one extreme is the manual scotch-tape film peel test for
adhesion, and at the other is an assortment of electron
microscopes and surface analytical equipment where
operation and data gathering, analysis, and display are
essentially computer-controlled.
210441 Physics of Thin Films
Film Properties
Common required film properties
- Film morphology and structure
- Film compositions
- Film thickness
Other properties related to specific applications
- hardness, adhesion, stress, electrical conductivity,
reflectivity, refractive index, magnetic domains,
electrical polarization, etc.
210441 Physics of Thin Films
Structural Characterization
1. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)
Figure 1. A picture of an ultra-high resolution SEM.(From Hitachi High-Technologies Canada, Inc.)
Specifications
Image resolution
0.5 nm @30kV guaranteed (magnification = 600,000x )
1.8 nm @ 1kV guaranteed (magnification = 150,000x )
(secondary electron image with test specimen)
Magnification: 60x - 2,000,000x
Accelerating voltage: 0.5 - 30 kV
Electron gun: cold field emission source
210441 Physics of Thin Films
Figure 2. A schematic of the electron and x-ray optics of a combined SEM-EPMA (Electron Probe Microanalysis).
(From J.I. Goldstein, D.E. Newbury, P. Echlin, D.C. Joy, C. Fiori and E. Lifshin, Scanning Electron Microscopy and X-Ray Microanalysis, Plenum, New York (1981))
210441 Physics of Thin Films
Wehnelt Cylinder
Figure 3. Wehnelt cylinder.(From J.I. Goldstein, D.E. Newbury, P. Echlin, D.C. Joy, C. Fiori and E. Lifshin, Scanning Electron Microscopy and X-Ray Microanalysis, Plenum, New York (1981))
210441 Physics of Thin Films
Important Features of SEM
1. Electron gun
1.1 Tungsten hairpin electron gun
- size: ~100 µm wire
- tip radius: ~100 µm
- thermionic emission: resistive heating (if) is required.
- source size: ~30-100 µm
- usage: reliable, properties are well understood, relatively
inexpensive, not so high brightness (for low
magnification applications), stable high currents (for
X-ray microanalysis)
- At a temperature of 2700 K and a brightness of 105 A/cm2sr,
a typical lifetime is about 30-100 h in a reasonably good
vacuum (10-5 torr).
210441 Physics of Thin Films
1.2 Lanthanum hexaboride (LaB6) electron gun
- most common thermionic electron source
- high brightness (5-10 times > tungsten)
- typical operating temperature: 1800 K
→ lower operating temperature increases the lifetime of
the filament.
- requires better vacuum condition (better than 10-7 torr)
→ LaB6 is extremely chemically reactive when hot and it
readily forms compounds with elements in the gas phase
that poisons the cathode and reduce its emission. The
volatile oxides of La and B which form in the presence
of water vapor or oxygen may cause a significant loss of
material.
- size of single crystal block: ~100 µm
- tip radius: 1-10 µm
- operation: activation period (slow heating of filament current)
is required to evaporate contaminants on the surface
of LaB6.
- usage: LaB6 is more expensive (10 times > tungsten) has longer
filament life.
210441 Physics of Thin Films
1.3 Field emission electron guns
- resistive heating of filament (to eject electrons) not required
- electrons emitted (tunneled) by high applied electric field
(> 107 V/cm)
- made of wire of single crystal tungsten fashioned into a sharp
point and spot-welded to a tungsten hairpin.
- tip radius: < 100 nm
- Types of field emitter
(a) cold field emitter
→ source size is small that little demagnification of the
beam is necessary to form a small spot on the order of
1-2 nm.
→ energy spread is low which improves performance
for low-voltage operation.
→ require vacuum better than 10-10 torr
→ need to heat tip (from time to time) to about 2500 K
to clean off adsorbed gas atoms. The process is called
"flashing".
(b) thermal field emitter
→ heating a <100> single crystal tungsten field emitter
to 1800 K in a strong electric field, building up and
sharpening up the tip.
→ continuous heating of the tip at 1300-2000 K to
prevent gas molecules from adsorbing on tip's surface
→ may be operated in 10-9 torr vacuum condition.
(c) Schottky emitter
→ operated at 1800 K
→ uses a ZrO coating on a <100> tungsten facet at the
tip to reduce the work function and flat emitting area
provides good emission stability.
→ need greater demagnification to produce 1-2 nm spot.
210441 Physics of Thin Films
Fig
ure
4.S
EM
mic
rogr
aphs
of
(a)
tung
sten
hai
rpin
fil
amen
t, (b
) L
aB6
fila
men
t and
(c)
fiel
d em
issi
on e
lect
ron
gun.
(F
rom
J.I
. Gol
dste
in, D
.E. N
ewbu
ry, P
. Ech
lin,
D.C
. Joy
, C.F
iori
and
E.L
ifsh
in,
Sca
nnin
g E
lect
ron
Mic
rosc
opy
and
X-R
ay M
icro
anal
ysis
, Ple
num
, New
Yor
k (1
981)
)
(a)
(b)
(c)
210441 Physics of Thin Films
Figure 5. Schematic diagram of a directly heated LaB6 emitter thatdirectly replaces a tungsten filament assembly.
(From J.I. Goldstein, D.E. Newbury, P. Echlin, D.C. Joy, C. Fiori and E. Lifshin, Scanning Electron Microscopy and X-Ray Microanalysis, Plenum, New York (1981))
Figure 6. Schematic diagram comparing tip shapes for the Schottkyemitter, cold field emitter, and thermal field emitter.(adapted from Tuggle et al., 1985)
210441 Physics of Thin Films
2. Electron lenses
- electromagnetic lenses
- demagnify the image of the crossover in the electron gun
(d0 ~ 10-50 µm for a thermionic gun) to the final spot size on the
specimen (1 nm - 1 µm)
- Types of lenses
(a) condenser lenses: demagnify electron-beam crossover diameter
(b) objective lenses: final lens in the column for probe formation
→ pinhole lens: - large specimen can be studied and its size
is limited by size of speciment chamber
below the lens.
- large variability working distance allows
excellent depth of field at long working
distance (and long focal length).
- working distance: 5-40 mm
- focal length: 10-40 mm
- subject to lens aberration and hence
reduction of image resolution.
→ immersion lens: - specimen is immersed in magnetic field
- focal lengths: 2-5 mm
- only a small specimen can be studied.
- lowest aberrations, smallest probe size,
highest image resolution.
210441 Physics of Thin Films
Figure 7. A rotationally symmetric electron lens where the coil windingsare inside the iron shell and the field is produced across the lens gap between polepieces.(adapted from Hall, 1966)
Figure 8. Enlarged schematic of polepiece area showing the forces on anelectron that cause it to be focused.
(From J.I. Goldstein, D.E. Newbury, P. Echlin, D.C. Joy, C. Fiori and E. Lifshin, Scanning Electron Microscopy and X-Ray Microanalysis, Plenum, New York (1981))
210441 Physics of Thin Films
Figure 9. Two objective lens configurations. (a) Asymmetrical pinholelens or conical lens, allowing a large speciment to be placedoutside the lens. (b) Symmetrical immersion lens, where a smallspecimen is placed inside the lens.
(From J.I. Goldstein, D.E. Newbury, P. Echlin, D.C. Joy, C. Fiori and E. Lifshin, Scanning Electron Microscopy and X-Ray Microanalysis, Plenum, New York (1981))
210441 Physics of Thin Films
3. Electron-Specimen Interactions
3.1 Elastic scattering
- affect the trajectories of the beam electrons inside the specimen
without altering the kinetic energy of the electron.
- responsible for back-scattered electrons (0 ≤ EBSE ≤ E0 with
energy distribution peaking in the range 0.8-0.9E0 for targets
of intermediate and high atomic number.)
3.2 Inelastic scattering
- results in a transfer of energy from the beam electrons to
the atoms of the specimen.
- responsible for generation of
→ secondary electrons (0 ≤ ESE ≤ 50 eV with most
probable energy of 3-5 eV)
→ Auger electrons
→ characteristic and Bremsstrahlung (continuum) X-rays
→ electron-hole pairs in semiconductors and insulators
→ long-wavelength electromagnetic radiation in the
visible, ultraviolet and infrared regions of the spectrum
(cathodoluminescence)
→ lattice vibrations (phonons)
→ electron oscillations in metals (plasmons)
210441 Physics of Thin Films
Figure 10. (a) electron and photon signals emanating from tear-shapedinteraction volume during electron-beam impingement on specimen surface. (b) Energy spectrum of electrons emittedfrom specimen surface. (c) Effect of surface topography on electron emission. (From Ref. [1])
Figure 11. Schematic illustration of the origin of two sources of secondaryelectrons in the sample. Incident beam electrons (B) generate secondary electrons (SEI) upon entering the sample. Backscatteredelectrons (BSE) generate secondary electrons (SEII) while leavingthe sample. λ is the mean free path for secondary electrons.
210441 Physics of Thin Films
Figure 12. Monte Carlo electron-trajectory simulations of the interactionvolume in iron as a function of beam energy: (a) 10 keV, (b) 20 keV, (c) 30 keV(From J.I. Goldstein, D.E. Newbury, P. Echlin, D.C. Joy, C. Fiori and E. Lifshin, Scanning Electron Microscopy and X-Ray Microanalysis, Plenum, New York (1981))
210441 Physics of Thin Films
4. Detectors
4.1 Everhart-Thornley detector
- most commonly used in SEM
- used to detect secondary electrons and sometimes backscattered
electrons
Figure 13. Schematic diagram of the Everhart-Thornley detector:B, backscattered-electron trajectories; SE, secondary-electrontrajectoreis; F, Faraday cage (bias range -50 V to +250 V);S, scintillator, with thin metallic coating (high bias, +12 kV)supply to the scintillator coating; LG, light guide; PM,photomultiplier.
210441 Physics of Thin Films
4.2 Dedicated backscattered electron detector
- usually placed near near the specimen
- Examples: scintillator detector, BSE-to-SE detector, solid-state
diode detector
Figure 14. (a) Schematic diagram of a solid-state BSE detector, showingseparation of electron-hole pairs by an applied external potential. (b) Typical installation of a solid-state detector onthe polepiece of the objective lens.
210441 Physics of Thin Films
4.3 Electron-Beam-Induced Current (EBIC)
- use the specimen as a detector
- when the primary electron beam strikes the surface,
electron-hole pairs are generated and the resulting current
is collected to modulate the intensity of the CRT image.
5. Applications of SEM
- topographic contrast (surface imaging)
- compositional contrast
- elevated-pressure (1-10 torr) microscopy
- stereo microscopy
4.4 X-ray detectors
- gas-proportional counter
210441 Physics of Thin Films
Figure 15. Magnification series of a fracture surface of high-purity iron, illustrating the rapid surveying capability of the SEM. The imagesare recorded at constant objective lens strength and workingdistance. Note that focus is maintained throughout the series andthere is no image rotation.
210441 Physics of Thin Films
Figure 16. (a) Optical micrograph of the radiolarian Trochodiscus longispinus.(b) SEM micrograph of same radiolarian. The greater depth offocus and superior resolving capability are apparent.
210441 Physics of Thin Films
Figure 17. High-resolution secondary electron images of the surface of themagnetic storage of a computer hard disc. Image recorded at35 keV on a field-emission SEM with signal collection from an E-T detector. Two magnifications of the same area are shown.
210441 Physics of Thin Films
Figure 18. The specimen is Raney nickel, which contains multiple phasesthat produce atomic number contrast and surface defects thatproduce topographic contrast. (a) specimen is viewed witha positively biased E-T detector, showing predominantly topographic contrast. (b) Four-quadrant solid-state BSE detectorgives an atomic number contrast.
210441 Physics of Thin Films
Figure 19. Atomic number (compositional contrast) observed in an aluminum-nickel alloy (Raney nickel). (a) Backscattered-electron image derived from a negatively biased Everhart-Thornley detector. (b) Direct specimen-current image of thesame region; note the contrast reversal compared to (a).