TECHNOLOGY OFFER FORMAT (FULL)

Name of Organisation: Nanyang Polytechnic

Headings / Examples
1.  Title
[Limit to 30 words] / Differential C-AFM system for electrical characterization and fault isolation of semiconductor devices
2.  Abstract / Summary
[Limit to 100 words] / Conductive-Atomic Force Microscope (C-AFM) has become an indispensable semiconductor failure analysis tool. Conventional C-AFM simultaneously maps the topography and current distribution images of a sample using DC bias voltage. Each failure location is typically scanned twice, at positive & negative DC bias, resulting in long C-AFM cycle time. The DC C-AFM technique is not applicable to analysis of silicon-on-insulator (SOI) devices, due to the buried oxide insulation layer on the devices. To overcome these limitations, the differential C-AFM system, which uses AC bias, reduces the cycle time by half and enables the failure analysis of SOI devices, resulting in faster yield recovery and higher productivity.
3.  Potential Applications
[Limit to 100 words] / This technology is applicable in the field of die-level failure analysis in semiconductor industry. The technique is applicable to both semiconductor devices with bulk silicon substrate and semiconductor devices with SOI substrate.
The technology is beneficial to the following industries:
·  Manufacturers of AFM instruments
·  Semiconductor companies/laboratories which make use of C-AFM as one of the analytical tools
4.  Customer Benefits
[Limit to 100 words] / ·  Reduce C-AFM failure analysis cycle time by half
·  Enable C-AFM analysis on SOI devices
·  Detection of defects failure due to transient response
·  Improved failure analysis success rate
5.  Technology Features & Specifications
[Limit to 100 words] / This technology consists of a differential apparatus which can be easily adapted to the conventional C-AFM.
6.  Market Trends and Opportunities
[Limit to 100 words] / Demand for C-AFM in semiconductor failure analysis is increasing due to shrinking device size. High cost and long cycle time of the C-AFM promotes the need to improve its efficiency & productivity. Failure analysis of SOI devices has always been a challenging task, and hence capability to apply C-AFM analysis for SOI devices is definitely beneficial to the industry.
7.  Graphic File
(I) Comparison of conventional DC C-AFM and differential C-AFM images on device failure due to leaky P contact. With DC C-AFM, defect is only visible with positive bias.
(a) Topography Image / (b) DC C-AFM image with positive bias—defect defected / (c) DC C-AFM image with negative bias—no defect detected
(d) C-AFM I-V curve on good and bad N contacts / (e) Differential C-AFM image #1 / (f) Differential C-AFM image #2 which is obtained simultaneously with (e)
(II) Differential C-AFM on SRAM area of SOI devices
(a) Topography Image / (b) Differential C-AFM image #1 / (c) Differential C-AFM image #2 which is obtained simultaneously with (b)

v_1.0, updated on 8 Aug 12’