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Recent Advances in Electron Tomography: TEM and HAADF-STEM Tomography for Materials Science and Semiconductor Applications

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2005

Christian Kübel ,
Andreas Voigt ,
Remco Schoenmakers ,
Max Otten ,
David Su ,
Tan-Chen Lee ,
Anna Carlsson  and
John Bradley
Christian Kübel
Affiliation:
FEI Company, Applications Laboratory, Achtseweg Noord 5, 5651GG Eindhoven, The Netherlands Christian Kübel is now at Fraunhofer Institut für Fertigungstechnik und Angewandte Materialforschung, Wiener Straße 12, 28359 Bremen, Germany
Andreas Voigt
Affiliation:
FEI Company, Applications Laboratory, Achtseweg Noord 5, 5651GG Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Remco Schoenmakers
Affiliation:
FEI Company, Applications Laboratory, Achtseweg Noord 5, 5651GG Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Max Otten
Affiliation:
FEI Company, Applications Laboratory, Achtseweg Noord 5, 5651GG Eindhoven, The Netherlands
David Su
Affiliation:
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd., Failure Analysis Division 9, Creation Road 1, Science-Based Industrial Park Hsin-Chu, Taiwan, Republic of China
Tan-Chen Lee
Affiliation:
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd., Failure Analysis Division 9, Creation Road 1, Science-Based Industrial Park Hsin-Chu, Taiwan, Republic of China
Anna Carlsson
Affiliation:
Haldor Topsøe A/S, Environmental and Materials Department, Research and Development, Nymøllevej 55, DK-2800 Lyngby, Denmark
John Bradley
Affiliation:
Institute for Geophysics and Planetary Physics, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, MS L-413, Livermore, CA 94550, USA
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Abstract

Electron tomography is a well-established technique for three-dimensional structure determination of (almost) amorphous specimens in life sciences applications. With the recent advances in nanotechnology and the semiconductor industry, there is also an increasing need for high-resolution three-dimensional (3D) structural information in physical sciences. In this article, we evaluate the capabilities and limitations of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high-angle-annular-dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM) tomography for the 3D structural characterization of partially crystalline to highly crystalline materials. Our analysis of catalysts, a hydrogen storage material, and different semiconductor devices shows that features with a diameter as small as 1–2 nm can be resolved in three dimensions by electron tomography. For partially crystalline materials with small single crystalline domains, bright-field TEM tomography provides reliable 3D structural information. HAADF-STEM tomography is more versatile and can also be used for high-resolution 3D imaging of highly crystalline materials such as semiconductor devices.

Keywords

3D imagingelectron tomographytransmission electron microscopy (TEM)high-angle-annular-dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM)semiconductor devicescatalyst
Type
Special Issue: Frontiers of Electron Microscopy in Materials Science
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 11 , Issue 5 , October 2005 , pp. 378 - 400
Copyright
© 2005 Microscopy Society of America

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