KEYWORDS: Scanning electron microscopy, Image segmentation, Tomography, Coating, Bone, Ceramics, 3D image processing, Sensors, 3D acquisition, Electron beams
Focused ion beam (FIB) milling coupled with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) on the same platform enables 3D
microstructural analysis of structures using FIB for serial sectioning and SEM for imaging. Since FIB milling is a
destructive technique, the acquisition of multiple signals from each slice is desirable. The feasibility of collecting both
an inlens backscattered electron (BSE) signal and an inlens secondary electron (SE) simultaneously from a single scan of
the electron beam from each FIB slice is demonstrated. The simultaneous acquisition of two different SE signals from
two different detectors (inlens vs. Everhart-Thornley (ET) detector) is also possible. Obtaining multiple signals from
each FIB slice with one scan increases the acquisition throughput. In addition, optimization of microstructural and
morphological information from the target is achieved using multi-signals. Examples of multi-signal FIB/SEM
tomography from a dental implant will be provided where both material contrast from the bone/ceramic coating/Ti
substrate phases and porosity in the ceramic coating will be characterized.
Electrical test structures of the type known as cross-bridge resistors have been patterned in (100) epitaxial silicon material that was grown on bonded and etched-back silicon-on- insulator (BESOI) substrates. The critical dimensions (CDs) of a selection of their reference segments have been measured electrically and by lattice-plane counting and they have been inspected by scanning-electron microscopy (SEM) cross-section imaging. The lattice-plane counting is performed on phase- contrast images made by high-resolution transmission-electron microscopy (HRTEM). The reference-segment features were aligned with <110> directions in the BESOI surface material. They were defined by a silicon micro-machining process which results in their sidewalls being nearly atomically planar and smooth and inclined at 54.737 degree(s) to the surface (100) plane of the substrate. This (100) implementation may usefully complement the attributes of the previously reported vertical-sidewall implementation for selected reference-material applications. The HRTEM, and electrical CD (ECD) linewidth measurements that are made on BESOI features of various drawn dimensions on the same substrate are being investigated to determine the feasibility of a CD traceability path that combines the low cost, robustness, and repeatability of the ECD technique and the absolute measurement of the HRTEM lattice-plane counting technique. Other novel aspects of the (100) Silicon-On- Insulator (SOI) implementation that are reported here are the ECD test-structure architecture and the making of HRTEM lattice-plane counts from both cross-sectional, as well as top-down, imaging of the reference features. This paper describes the design details and the fabrication of the cross- bridge resistor test structure. The long-term goal is to develop a technique for the determination of the absolute dimensions of the trapezoidal cross sections of the cross- bridge resistors's reference segments, as a prelude to making them available for dimensional reference applications.
Conference Committee Involvement (6)
Scanning Microscopies 2015
29 September 2015 | Monterey, California, United States
Scanning Microscopies 2014
16 September 2014 | Monterey, California, United States
Scanning Microscopies 2013: Advanced Microscopy Technologies for Defense, Homeland Security, Forensic, Life, Environmental, and Industrial Sciences
30 April 2013 | Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Scanning Microscopies 2012: Advanced Microscopy Technologies for Defense, Homeland Security, Forensic, Life, Environmental, and Industrial Sciences
24 April 2012 | Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Scanning Microscopies 2011: Advanced Microscopy Technologies for Defense, Homeland Security, Forensic, Life, Environmental, and Industrial Sciences
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.