Characterization Equipment

The Dektak 8 is a contact profilometer capable of measuring vertical steps from tens of nanometers to 1mm in depth.  Scan lengths of up to 50mm can be used on samples as large as 8” wafers.

The Dektak 6 is a semi-manual contact profilometer capable of measuring vertical steps from tens of nanometers to 1mm in depth.

WITec Alpha 300R Confocal Raman imaging system has the ability to acquire chemical information non-destructively with a high resolution (~ 200 nm). The system is equipped with 532 nm green laser, max. 17 mW power.

Raman General Operation Modes:

The Zeiss SUPRA 55 is a FESEM with a Schottky thermal field emission source. It has an ultimate imaging resolution in the range of 2nm. The SUPRA has multiple detectors for Secondary Imaging as well as Backscatter. The system has been setup with a blanker and a control system that can be used for doing electron beam lithography.

The Zeiss 1540EsB Crossbeam is a FIB/SEM system. It has a FESEM electron column which has excellent imaging performance with resolution approaching the 2nm range. It also has a Ga ion column which allows for milling (sputtering) of materials from the sample. The system can also deposit Pt, W, and SiOx from precursors installed in the Gas Injection System. The GIS also has 2 etch gases including XeF2 and H2O.  There are multiple detector options for different imaging modes.

The optical profilometer is a non-contact method to study sample surface topography in three dimensions.  Vertical resolution can be on the order of ten of nanometers with a trade off in field size.  Samples of all sizes can typically be accommodated.

The AES system provides detailed surface chemistry at the sub-10 nm scale. It operates by spectroscopy of Auger electrons (a multi-electron emission process) that are generated by an ultra-fine scanning electron probe. Chemical information from regions as small as 10 nm may be obtained, with chemical sensitivity of a few parts per thousand. The Auger signal is obtained from regions within about 1 nm of the surface, and an integrated ion sputtering enables the surface to be continuously removed, so that chemical depth profiles can be obtained.

Digital Instruments Multimode IIIa Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) can obtain 3D surface topography at nanometer scale resolution, to measure contact and friction forces between surfaces.

Modes of Operation:

• Contact (regular, lateral, and current imaging) mode imaging
• Tapping (regular, electric, and magnetic)
• Fluid cell

Available scanners:

• J-type, 125 um x 125 um, z 4.33 um
• E-type, 10 um x 10 um, z 1.6 um

The Accent hall effect tool is a turn-key system for measurement of resistivity, carrier concentration and mobility semiconductor materials. Samples can have Van der Pauw, bar, or bridge shaped geometries can all be used.

The co-linear four point probe system measures sheet resistance values from 0.1 milli-ohm per square up to 99 kilo-ohm per square.  Thin films on samples less than 3” in diameter can be used with the system.