US Patent Application 18448014. ATOM PROBE TOMOGRAPHY SPECIMEN PREPARATION simplified abstract
Contents
ATOM PROBE TOMOGRAPHY SPECIMEN PREPARATION
Organization Name
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
Inventor(s)
ATOM PROBE TOMOGRAPHY SPECIMEN PREPARATION - A simplified explanation of the abstract
This abstract first appeared for US patent application 18448014 titled 'ATOM PROBE TOMOGRAPHY SPECIMEN PREPARATION
Simplified Explanation
The patent application describes a method for preparing an atom probe tomography (APT) specimen on a wafer.
- APT specimen is formed directly on a specific region of the wafer called DUT (Device Under Test).
- A laser is used to create a trench in the DUT and bump structures within the trench.
- The laser patterning creates a coarse surface texture on the bump structures.
- A low-kV gas ion milling process is then used to shape the bump structures into the APT specimen.
- The APT specimen is integrated with the substrate or support structure beneath it.
- The method utilizes a dual-beam focused ion beam (FIB) microscope for the ion milling process.
Original Abstract Submitted
The disclosure is directed to techniques in preparing an atom probe tomography (“APT”) specimen. The disclosed techniques form an APT specimen or sample directly on a DUT region on a wafer. The APT specimen is formed integrally to the substrate or the support structure, e.g., a carrier, under the APT specimen. A laser patterning is conducted to form a trench in the DUT and one or more bump structures in the trench. The laser patterning is relatively coarse and forms a coarse surface texture on each of the bump structures. A low-kV gas ion milling using a dual-beam focused ion beam (“FIB”) microscopes is then conducted to shape the bump structures into APT specimen.
