Method and apparatus for transmission electron microscopy

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10541108-B2
Application number	US-201815899905-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 20, 2018
Priority date	Feb 21, 2017
Publication date	Jan 21, 2020
Grant date	Jan 21, 2020

Abstract

The disclosure is related to a method and apparatus for transmission electron microscopy wherein a TEM specimen is subjected to at least one thinning step by scratching at least an area of the specimen with an SPM probe, and wherein the thinned area is subjected to an SPM acquisition step, using the same SPM probe or another probe.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for performing transmission electron microscopy (TEM) on a TEM specimen, the method comprising:
thinning at least an area of the TEM specimen by scratching a surface of the TEM specimen with a probe;
performing, using the probe, a scanning probe microscopy (SPM) acquisition on the thinned area;
exposing the thinned area to an electron beam; and
taking a TEM image of the thinned area.

2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
prior to the thinning, exposing the area of the TEM specimen to an electron beam and taking a first TEM image of the area.

3. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising: after the SPM acquisition and after the taking of the TEM image of the thinned area, again thinning at least the area of the TEM specimen with the probe.

4. The method according to claim 3 , further comprising maintaining the TEM specimen in a fixed position.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein a thickness of the TEM specimen that is removed via the thinning is controlled by measuring an average height of the surface.

6. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
determining 3-dimensional data of the TEM specimen based on the TEM image; and
building a tomographic model of electrical and/or magnetic features of the TEM specimen based on the data acquired by the SPM acquisition.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the SPM acquisition is performed simultaneously with the thinning.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the SPM acquisition is performed after the thinning.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the TEM specimen is a lamella-shaped specimen, the method further comprising attaching the TEM specimen to a TEM grid mounted in a TEM specimen holder.

10. The method according to claim 9 , wherein the TEM grid comprises a pillar-shaped feature provided with a slit in a longitudinal direction of the pillar-shaped feature, so as to form two leg portions on either side of the slit, and wherein the TEM specimen is positioned transversally to the slit, and is attached to the two leg portions.

11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the TEM specimen is positioned only once and remains in place during the thinning, the SPM acquisition, and the taking of the TEM image.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
prior to the thinning, performing a first SPM acquisition on the area of the TEM specimen.

13. An apparatus comprising a probe, the apparatus being configured to perform functions comprising:
thinning at least an area of a transmission electron microscopy (TEM) specimen by scratching a surface of the TEM specimen with the probe;
performing, using the probe, an SPM acquisition on the thinned area;
exposing the thinned area to an electron beam; and
taking a TEM image of the thinned area.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , further comprising a support for positioning thereon a TEM specimen holder.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the TEM specimen holder comprises a flat portion into which a TEM grid can be inserted.

16. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor of an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform functions comprising:
thinning at least an area of a transmission electron microscopy (TEM) specimen by scratching a surface of the TEM specimen with a probe;
performing, using the probe, a scanning probe microscopy (SPM) acquisition on the thinned area;
exposing the thinned area to an electron beam; and
taking a TEM image of the thinned area.

Assignees

• Imec Vzw

Inventors

• Celano Umberto
• Paredis Kristof
• Vandervorst Wilfried

Classifications

• H01J2237/2802

  Transmission microscopes · CPC title

• H01J2237/2583

  using tunnel effects, e.g. STM, AFM · CPC title

• H01J37/3056

  for microworking, e. g. etching of gratings or trimming of electrical components · CPC title

• H01J2237/31745

  for preparing specimen to be viewed in microscopes or analyzed in microanalysers · CPC title

• H01J37/28

  with scanning beams {(H01J37/268, H01J37/292, H01J37/2955 take precedence)} · CPC title