Strain measurement of 3D structured nanodevices by EBSD

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Crystallography

Background:

• Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD) is a powerful technique for analyzing material microstructures.
• Accurate strain measurement in 3D nanodevices is challenging due to the small feature sizes relative to the electron interaction volume.
• Superposition of EBSD patterns from multiple regions in 3D nanostructures complicates traditional strain analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a novel methodology for accurate strain magnitude measurement in 3D nanodevices using EBSD.
• To address the limitations imposed by pattern superposition in nanoscale EBSD analysis.
• To enable high-resolution, non-destructive strain quantification in 3D nanostructures.

Main Methods:

• Demonstration of the effect of pattern superposition on EBSD strain measurements.
• Development and application of a pattern subtraction approach to separate superimposed EBSD signals.
• Validation of the subtraction method on 33 nm wide SiGe lines.

Main Results:

• The proposed subtraction method successfully separates EBSD patterns from superimposed signals in 3D nanodevices.
• Accurate strain magnitudes were obtained for 33 nm SiGe lines using the new technique.
• Traditional EBSD strain analysis significantly undervalued strain magnitudes by an order of magnitude in these structures.

Conclusions:

• The developed subtraction technique provides an accurate and reliable method for strain measurement in 3D nanodevices.
• This approach overcomes the limitations of conventional EBSD strain analysis at the nanoscale.
• The methodology offers a high spatial resolution, non-destructive, and accurate strain measurement solution for nanoscale 3D structures.