Film Characterization

Typical Films Analyzed

• Silicon, native and thermal silicon oxides, silicon nitride, and silicon oxynitride
• BSG, PSG, and BPSG low-k dielectrics
• Atomic layer deposition (ALD) metal oxides
• Aluminum, copper doped aluminum, copper, and other films used for interconnect
• Alumina, anodized alumina, diamond, graphite, and SiC
• SiGe, GaAs, TiW, NiCr, FeCr, III-V and II-VI films
• GST, SST and other phase change memory (PCM)
• NiP and hard disks
• Others...

• Silicon films (single, polysilicon, and ribbon)
• CdTe
• CIG, CdS, Indium (In) and CIGS
• Carbon / graphite
• AZO and other TCO front contact
• Mo, Cu, and other back contacts
• Encapsulation thin films
• Others...

Analyses Provided

• Compositional analysis
• Depth profiling, line scan and three-dimensional mapping
• Microscopic or local analysis for contamination identification
• Surface analysis
• Trace in-film impurity analysis

Analytical Techniques

• Glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy (GD-OES)
• Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS)
• Inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES)
• Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA ICP-MS)
• Energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS)
• Secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS)
• UV/Vis spectroscopy
• X-ray fluorescence (XRF)
• Auger (AES)
• Electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis / X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (ESCA/XPS)
• Interstitial gas analysis
• Minority carrier lifetime measurement (MCL)
• Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS)
• Time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS)
• X-ray diffraction (XRD), total reflection X-ray fluorescence (TXRF), and X-ray imaging