Want to know more about how our analysis methods can support your research in electronic engineering and semiconductor materials? Whether you’re a student, a researcher, or a professor, we’ve put together some relevant application examples of our solutions in semiconductor research and device processing.
The materials and analytical equipment used in these examples overlap with Materials Science and Engineering, and Physics and Applied Physics, so you may find additional information on those pages. Method abbreviations are explained at the bottom of this page.
Semiconductor research
Our applications in semiconductor research primarily involve high resolution X-ray Diffraction of epitaxial layers. Thin film growth by MBE, MOCVD or CVD are big research areas in Electronic Engineering and Physics departments. This is where we find the highest concentration of our High-Resolution XRD applications. There is a constant quest to develop new semiconductor materials and to overcome the many challenges of incorporating new materials into working devices. The table below provides a selection of application notes that exemplify typical measurements on semiconductor materials. Click on any of the links in the table to discover more!
Semiconductors Research | Method | Sample | Application Note Title (Link) |
|---|---|---|---|
Epitaxial layers - finding reflections | HR-XRD | GaN / InGaN alloys | Available reflections for coplanar and in-plane XRD of GaN and related alloys |
Epitaxial layers - rapid measurements | HR-XRD | InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells | Fast X-ray diffraction measurements on semiconductor structures |
Epitaxial layers - thermal stability | HR-XRD | AlInN/GaN/Sapphire | Studying the thermal stability of gallium nitride based high electron mobility transistor structures |
Epitaxial layers – strain, composition, and layer thickness | HR-XRD | Gallium Nitride and related compounds | XRD of gallium nitride and related compounds: strain, composition and layer thickness (booklet) |
Epitaxial layers - strain, composition, and layer thickness | HR-XRD | GaAs on Ge on Si | Semiconductor thin films. Analysis of III-V solar cells on silicon substrates |
Narrow bandgap (IR) semiconductors - film composition, thickness | XRF | InxSy films on glass | |
OLED polymers - molecular weight | GPC | Poly(phenylene-vinylene) (PPV) in Chloroform; 2) poly(fluorene-phenylenevinylene)(PF-PPV) in THF; 3) polythiophene (PT) in Chloroform | |
Perovskite semiconductors - defects | Reflection Topography | Perovskite LiTaO3 | |
Phase change materials - crystalline phase identification | XRD / XRR | Germanium Antimony Telluride (Ge2Sb2Te5) PCM | Combining XRR & XRD for in-situ investigation of phase change materials |
Thin films - In-plane methods | XRD / HR-XRD | Co films in hard disks, GaN on Sapphire | |
Thin-film solar cells - overview | XRD / HR-XRD | Solar cell materials, general | X-ray diffraction techniques for characterization of thin film solar cells |
Wide bandgap (UV) semiconductors - thin film quality | XRD / XRR | ZnO films on glass |
Device processing
Malvern Panalytical’s wafer analyzer is not often employed in university research, but it is worth showing here some of the process fabrication instances where it is employed to measure elemental composition and film thickness. Wafer cutting and polishing is also an important step in device processing and particle size characterization is important to control the quality of cutting and polishing slurries. Click on any of the links in the table to discover more!
Device Processing | Method | Sample | Application Note Title (Link) |
|---|---|---|---|
Dielectric films - composition, thickness | XRF | Borophosphosilicate glass (BPSG) Dielectric films, Boron, phosphorous, Silicon | |
Diffusion barrier layers - composition, thickness | XRF | Cu/TaNx multilayers on Si wafers | |
Diffusion/bonding metallization - composition thickness | XRF | TiNx layers on Si wafers | |
Epitaxial layers -composition | XRF | Ge concentration in Si(1-x)Gex films | |
Ferroelectric/Dielectric films - composition, thickness | XRF | Barium Strontium Titanate (BST) films on Pt | |
Gate connecting layers - thickness | XRF | Tungsten (W) layers | |
Gate technology - layer thickness | XRF | WSix deposition on Silicon | |
Giant magnetoresistant multilayers - composition, thickness | XRF | Ta, NiMn, PtMn, CoFe, Cu, NiFe, Al2O3 thin films | Analysis of Giant Magneto Resistance GMR film stacks using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry |
Interconnect layers- composition, thickness | XRF | AlCu interconnect layers on S substrate | |
Passivation layers - thickness | XRF | Ni-Ta thin films on Si | |
Read/write heads for hard drives - layer thickness | XRF | CoNiFe films on hard drives | In-line process control of CoNiFe layers in the manufacturing of read/write heads |
Wafer cutting slurry - particle size and shape | Imaging | Silicon carbide - abrasive slurry | |
Wafer polishing slurry – particle size | ELS / DLS | Silica-based particles in ammonia salt solution, silica-based particles in KOH solution | Characterization of SiO2 Slurry Samples Used in Chemical Mechanical Polishing |
Wafer polishing slurry - zeta potential | ELS | SiO2 or Al2O3 particles | Zeta Potential Measurement of Highly Concentrated CMP Slurry Dispersions |
Explicação das abreviações
Nossos produtos e tecnologias são descritos nas páginas de Produtos. Abaixo, você encontrará uma referência rápida às propriedades medidas por nossos instrumentos, juntamente com o nome da medição e sua abreviação. Clique em cada método para saber mais sobre ele!
|
Abreviação |
Nome do método |
Instrumento(s) |
Propriedade medida |
|---|---|---|---|
|
DLS |
Zetasizer |
Tamanho molecular, raio hidrodinâmico RH, tamanho das partículas, distribuição de tamanho, estabilidade, concentração, aglomeração |
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|
ELS |
Zetasizer |
Potencial zeta, carga de partículas, estabilidade da suspensão, mobilidade de proteínas |
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ITC |
MicroCal ITC |
Afinidade de ligação, termodinâmica de reações moleculares na solução |
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DSC |
Microcal DSC |
Desnaturação (desdobramento) de moléculas grandes, estabilidade de macromoléculas |
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GCI |
WAVEsystem da Creoptix |
Cinética de ligação em tempo real e afinidade de ligação, sem rótulo, com fluidos |
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IMG |
Morphologi 4
|
Formação de imagens de partículas, formato automatizado e medição de tamanho
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MDRS |
Morphologi 4-ID |
Formação de imagens de partículas, medição automatizada da forma e do tamanho, identificação química e detecção de contaminantes |
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|
LD |
Mastersizer Spraytec Insitec Parsum |
Tamanho das partículas, distribuição de tamanho |
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NTA |
NanoSight |
Tamanho das partículas, distribuição de tamanho e concentração |
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SEC ou GPC |
OMNISEC |
Tamanho molecular, peso molecular, estado oligomérico, tamanho de polímero ou proteína e estrutura molecular |
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SPE |
Le Neo LeDoser Eagon 2 O OxAdvanced M4 rFusion |
Preparação da amostra fundida para XRF, preparações de solução de peróxido para ICP, pesagem de fluxo para preparação de amostra fundida |
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|
UV/Vis/NIR/SWIR |
Espectrometria infravermelha de ondas curtas/ultravioletas/visíveis/próximas a infravermelho |
LabSpec FieldSpec TerraSpec QualitySpec |
Identificação e análise de material, umidade, mineral, teor de carbono. Trégua de aterramento para técnicas espectroscópicas aéreas e por satélite. |
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PFTNA |
CNA |
Análise elementar em linha |
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|
XRD-C |
Aeris Empyrean |
Refinamento da estrutura do cristal molecular, identificação e quantificação de fase cristalina, relação de cristalino com amorfo, análise de tamanho de cristalito |
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|
XRD-M |
Empyrean X’Pert3 MRD(XL) |
Tensão residual, textura |
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XRD-CT |
Empyrean |
Imagens 3D de sólidos, porosidade e densidade |
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SAXS |
Empyrean |
Tamanho, forma e estrutura de nanopartículas |
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GISAXS |
Dispersão de raios X de pequeno ângulo com incidência oblíqua |
Empyrean |
Filmes finos e superfícies nanoestruturados |
|
HR-XRD |
Empyrean X’Pert3 MRD(XL) |
Filmes finos e multicamadas epitaxiais, composição, deformação, espessura, qualidade |
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XRR |
Empyrean X’Pert3 MRD(XL) |
Filmes finos e superfícies, espessura do filme, rugosidade da superfície e da interface |
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XRF |
Epsilon Zetium Axios FAST 2830 ZT |
Composição elementar, concentração elementar, elementos traço, detecção de contaminantes |