Award Winner
R&D Initiative Award
Carl Zeiss SMT ORION PLUS
Helium ion microscope
C
Issue V 2009
square4
.com
arl Zeiss SMT are the winners
of the R&D Initiative Award
with their ORION PLUS Helium
ion microscope. This award panel agreed that
the ORION PLUS provided a tool that will be
required to continue down the path of scaling
devices. The visual data available with this tool
oasiasemiconductor
will ensure manufacturers will be able to tackle
.eur
issues as they arise as well as discover new
www
challenges in manufacturing proceses.
The ORION PLUS Helium ion microscope
19
delivers images with never before seen ultra-
high resolution and material contrast, with five temperatures with helium gas flowing over it. A
times better depth of field than available. The high voltage is applied to the needle to produce
system is based on the atomic-sized, ALIS gas an extremely high electric field at its apex. The
field ion source. This source is mated with an helium gas is attracted to the energized tip
advanced electrostatic ion column that focuses where it is ionized. With ionization happening in
the beam with sub-nanometer precision. Much the vicinity of a single atom, the resulting ion
like a SEM, the beam scans across the sample beam appears to be emanating from a region
pixel by pixel. Then a beam of helium ions is that is less than an angstrom in size. This
used as imaging particles. Since ions can be produces an extremely bright beam that can be
focused into a smaller probe size and have less focused to an extraordinarily small probe size.
sample interaction than electrons. This source is mated with an advanced
Carl Zeiss SMT expects to be able to see electrostatic ion column that focuses the beam
things smaller than ever before. Helium ions are with sub-nanometre precision. Much like a SEM,
about 8000 times heavier than electrons and the beam scans the sample pixel by pixel.
exhibit little diffraction when passed through an The number of detected secondary
aperture or across an edge. Diffraction is a electrons is used to determine the gray level of
significant problem for a SEM where the that particular pixel. Since the number of
diffraction effect limits its ultimate spot size. detected secondary electrons varies with
The secret to the resolving power of the material composition and shape, the images
helium ion beam starts with the source tip. A provide excellent topographic and compositional
finely sharpened needle is made even sharper information.
through a process that took years to develop. Possible applications of the ORION Helium
Individual atoms are stripped away from the Ion Microscope comprise Failure Analysis,
source until an atomic pyramid is created with Critical Dimension Measurement and Defect
just three atoms at the very end of the source tip Review to name but a few. Just recently, the
– a configuration called the “trimer”. This system has successfully been used for startling
repeatable process can be accomplished in-situ. R&D work namely etching nanostructures in
Once the trimer is formed, the tip is grapheme, a material with promising potential
maintained under high vacuum and cryogenic for semiconductor devices.
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36