Jun 30 2017
Thermo Fisher Scientific launches three new additions to its portfolio of semiconductor failure analysis workflows, providing semiconductor Manufacturers with what they are looking for – speed and high-quality physical and electrical failure analysis.
Raimundas/ Shutterstock.com
These products along with other market-leading technologies will be showcased by the company during the 24th International Symposium on the Physical and Failure Analysis of Integrated Circuits (IPFA 2017) held in Chengdu, China between July 4th and 7th, 2017.
The new Helios G4 plasma focused ion beam (FIB) system is engineered to de-process and deliver ultra-high-resolution scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis on a diverse variety of semiconductor devices. The new flexProber system is used for quick electrical fault isolation to identify and spot faults at the interconnect, as well as the transistor levels of the semiconductor wafer. The new Themis S transmission electron microscope (TEM) is built to provide atomic-level resolution imaging and high-throughput chemical analysis on the most demanding semiconductor devices.
The semiconductor market continues to evolve at a fast pace, with strong growth in the memory, foundry, internet of things (IoT), advanced packaging and display markets. This growth has increased the need for fast, high-quality electrical and physical failure analysis. These products add new capabilities and increased flexibility to our existing portfolio of failure analysis solutions.
Rob Krueger, Vice President and General Manager, Semiconductors, Thermo Fisher
The Helios G4 plasma FIB system is Thermo Fisher’s newest-generation DualBeam microscope. It can handle a wide range of failure analysis applications, from high-speed delayering to SEM cross-section imaging of devices and TEM sample preparation. Semiconductor delayering is an increasingly vital application in fault localization at sub-14 nm technology nodes. The plasma FIB and proprietary Dx chemistry is used to reveal metallization layers, allowing electrical fault isolation and analysis to be accomplished using Thermo Fisher nanoprobing tools.
The Helios G4 plasma FIB system is capable of supporting de-processing down to the 7 nm node and offers automated end pointing that halts milling automatically when the metal or via layer of interest is exposed. It offers up to 10-20 times faster milling rates than conventional (Ga+) FIB solutions, allowing engineers to develop larger samples for TEM imaging and nanoprobing, as well as large area SEM cross-sections, on a wide range of advanced (2.5D) packaging, light-emitting diode (LED), display and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS).
The new flexProber system is built to assist Engineers to swiftly locate and identify electrical faults, using an SEM to position fine mechanical probes on exposed circuit elements. Correctly locating the fault can enhance productivity and cost-effectiveness in following analysis by ensuring that the fault is included when a thin section is taken out for high-resolution imaging in a TEM. The flexProber system has a new SEM column specially designed for probing applications, with a 2X improvement in resolution compared to its predecessor, the nProber II. It includes many of the capabilities of Thermo Fisher’s high-end Nanoprober product series and is engineered to address a wide range of semiconductor device types and process technologies. It provides a suitable pathway into electrical probing, providing an entry-level configuration while maintaining the option to upgrade to full Nanoprober system capability later on.
The Themis S system is Thermo Fisher’s most recent addition to the industry-standard Themis TEM platform. Aimed at the demands of semiconductor failure analysis labs working at the sub-20 nm technology node, the Themis S system is meant for high-volume semiconductor imaging and analysis and has an in-built vibration isolation enclosure and complete remote operation capability. The probe-corrected, 80-200 kV column, automated alignments, XFEG source and DualX X-ray spectrometer provide powerful, sub-Ångström imaging and rapid, accurate elemental and strain analysis.
We have customers working on a wide variety of devices, from the most advanced memory and logic at the sub-20 and even 7 nm nodes, to more mature device technology that is still critically important and used in many state-of-the-art applications like smart phones and IoT products. Our suite of failure analysis tools covers a diverse set of semiconductor customers with a wide-array of requirements. We look forward to meeting with our customers at the IPFA conference in China to discuss how our product portfolio can meet their needs.
Rob Krueger, Vice President and General Manager, Semiconductors, Thermo Fisher