Analytical transmission electron microscopy (AEM) equipped with a field emission gun has made it possible to analyze chemical information at local spots or interfaces with a very small electron probe. This technique has been applied to assist in process development and addressing certain reliability issues in silicon devices.

Figure 1 shows an example of applications of AEM to a 0.5 μm transistor. An oxide bump is found to be located in the middle of a transistor. A very thin layer (20 Å) is on the top of the oxide bump. Using EDS, the bump is determined to be a silicon oxide, but EDS failed to analyze the thin layer. Electron energy loss spectroscopy detects nitrogen in this residual layer (Fig. la), suggesting that the residue is a thin nitride. This residual nitride is caused by the incomplete removal of the nitride mask after field oxidation. This nitride residue blocks the subsequent removal of the buffer oxide between the nitride mask and the substrate.