Sponsor: STAR Cryoelectronics, LLC

• Project duration: 10/1/2004 - 9/30/2007
• Total project (est.): $2,762,253
• Requested ATP funds: $1,833,376

As advances in semiconductor manufacturing continue to push the minimum feature size of devices to smaller and smaller dimensions - now only a few hundred nanometers - the semiconductor industry is facing a critical need for next-generation analytical tools for inspection, characterization, and compositional analysis of contaminant particles and defects as well as for the analysis of nanometer-scale device structures. Energy dispersive X-ray spectrometers (EDS) mounted on scanning electron microscopes are a mainstay analytical tool, but the best available instruments cannot offer both high spatial resolution (a few nanometers) and high X-ray energy resolution (currently limited to 120 eV). This problem is becoming increasingly acute as minimum feature sizes decrease. In order to perform compositional analysis on nanometer-scale features, the X-ray generation volume in the sample must be nanometer length scale as well. Using a modern field emission scanning electron microscope, it is possible to reduce the X-ray generation volume to a depth under 100 nanometers (high spatial resolution) by operating at reduced electron beam energies. At these low energies, however, the electron beam excites only low-energy elemental X-ray lines, and today's detectors are unable to clearly resolve the X-ray lines owing to peak overlaps at these low energies. Poor energy resolution means, for example, that it is impossible to resolve peak overlaps in the spectra of technologically important materials such as tungsten silicide and barium titanate. STAR Cryoelectronics proposes to develop a next-generation microcalorimeter spectrometer that will offer a ten-fold improvement in energy resolution as compared with conventional EDS tools. The planned instrument will use a novel array of superconducting microcalorimeters to vastly increase energy resolution and eliminate the need for X-ray optics that can introduce spectral artifacts. The project involves several significant technical hurdles, including the development of stable materials for the microcalorimeter array, optimized designs to achieve the best energy resolution, the fabrication of the array, and the integration of the complete system. If successful, the revolutionary improvement in energy resolution will enable the microcalorimeter spectrometer to meet several increasingly critical industrial and materials research needs in microanalysis, including the need for high spatial resolution combined with the ability to identify particulate contaminants and defects during semiconductor fabrication, thereby reducing costs of operation, downtime and waste. For a perspective, the costs to a semiconductor fab line of downtime due to process failures owing to particle contamination or defects ranges from $100,000 to $500,000 per hour. This next-generation microcalorimeter spectrometer could lead to significant improvements in yields across all current and emerging semiconductor markets, especially as minimum feature sizes shrink. Given the scope and scale of this high-risk project, ATP funding is crucial in order for STAR Cryoelectronics to effectively pursue the development and subsequent commercialization of the spectrometer in a time frame that will meet market demand.

For project information:

Robin Cantor, (505) 424-6454 x101
rcantor@starcryo.com

ATP Project Manager

Carlos Grinspon, 301-975-4448
carlos.grinspon@nist.gov

This is the fact sheet for this project as it was announced on September 28, 2004.
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