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 |
Explicación de las abreviaturas
Nuestros productos y tecnologías se describen en las Páginas de productos. A continuación, encontrará una referencia rápida de las propiedades medidas por nuestros instrumentos, junto con el nombre de la medición y su abreviatura. Haga clic en cada método para obtener más información.
|
Abreviatura |
Nombre del método |
Instrumentos |
Propiedad medida |
|---|---|---|---|
|
DLS |
Zetasizer |
Tamaño molecular, radio hidrodinámico RH, tamaño de la partícula, distribución del tamaño, estabilidad, concentración, aglomeración |
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ELS |
Zetasizer |
Potencial zeta, carga de partículas, estabilidad de suspensión, movilidad de proteínas |
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ITC |
MicroCal ITC |
Afinidad de unión, termodinámica de reacciones moleculares en solución |
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DSC |
Microcal DSC |
Desnaturalización (desplegado) de moléculas grandes, estabilidad de macromoléculas |
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GCI |
Creoptix WAVEsystem |
Cinética de unión en tiempo real y afinidad de unión, sin etiquetas con fluídicos |
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IMG |
Morphologi 4
|
Obtención de imágenes de partículas, medición automatizada de formas y tamaños
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MDRS |
Morphologi 4-ID |
Obtención de imágenes de partículas, medición automatizada de formas y tamaños, identificación química y detección de contaminantes |
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|
LD |
Mastersizer Spraytec Insitec Parsum |
Tamaño de las partículas, distribución del tamaño |
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NTA |
NanoSight |
Tamaño de las partículas, distribución del tamaño y concentración |
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|
SEC o GPC |
OMNISEC |
Tamaño molecular, peso molecular, estado oligomérico, tamaño y estructura molecular de polímeros o proteínas |
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SPE |
Le Neo LeDoser Eagon 2 El OxAdvanced M4 rFusion |
Preparación de muestras como perlas fusionadas para FRX, preparaciones de solución de peróxido para ICP, pesaje de fundente para la fabricación de perlas |
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|
UV/Vis/NIR/ SWIR |
Espectrometría infrarroja de onda corta ultravioleta/visible/con infrarrojo cercano |
LabSpec FieldSpec TerraSpec QualitySpec |
Identificación y análisis de materiales, humedad, minerales, contenido de carbono. Verificación del terreno para técnicas espectroscópicas transportadas por el aire y por satélite. |
|
PFTNA |
CNA |
Análisis elemental en línea |
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|
XRD-C |
Aeris Empyrean |
Refinamiento de la estructura cristalina molecular, identificación y cuantificación de la fase cristalina, relación cristalino a amorfo, análisis del tamaño de la cristalización |
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|
XRD-M |
Empyrean X’Pert3 MRD(XL) |
Tensión residual, textura |
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XRD-CT |
Imágenes de absorción de rayos X por tomografía computarizada |
Empyrean |
Imágenes en 3D de sólidos, porosidad y densidad |
|
SAXS |
Empyrean |
Nanopartículas, tamaño, forma y estructura |
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GISAXS |
Dispersión de rayos X con ángulo pequeño e incidencia por roce |
Empyrean |
Superficies y películas finas nanoestructuradas |
|
HR-XRD |
Empyrean X’Pert3 MRD(XL) |
Películas finas y epitaxiales, composición, deformación, grosor, calidad |
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XRR |
Empyrean X’Pert3 MRD(XL) |
Superficies y películas finas, espesor de la película, rugosidad de la superficie y de la interfaz |
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XRF |
Epsilon Zetium Axios FAST 2830 ZT |
Composición elemental, concentración elemental, elementos traza, detección de contaminantes |