AVS 71 Session CPS+MS1-MoM: Metrology for Semiconductor Manufacturing

Monday, September 22, 2025 8:15 AM in Room 207 A W

Monday Morning

Start	Invited?	Item
8:45 AM	Invited	CPS+MS1-MoM-3 CHIPS Metrology Program Overview Daniel Lu (NIST-Boulder) The CHIPS Metrology Program is a critical component of the CHIPS for America R&D Program, driving innovation in the semiconductor industry through accurate, precise, and fit-for-purpose measurements. The program's vision is to catalyze innovation, enhance the U.S. semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem, and promote U.S. industrial competitiveness. The CHIPS Metrology Program has four key pillars: CHIPS Metrology funded Intramural Projects, CHIPS Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, CHIPS Metrology Community, and Metrology Exchange to Innovate in Semiconductors (METIS). This presentation provides an overview of the program's mission, goals, and progress across these four areas, highlighting its impact on expanding measurement solutions, fostering a diverse community of solvers, and promoting education and workforce development opportunities in the semiconductor industry.
9:15 AM		CPS+MS1-MoM-5 Template Matching Approach for Automated Determination of Crystal Phase and Orientation of Grains in 4D-STEM Precession Electron Diffraction Data for Hafnium Zirconium Oxide Ferroelectric Thin Films Alain Diebold (CNSE, University at Albany, SUNY); Colin Ophus (Stanford University); Amir Kordijazi (University of Southern Maine); Steven Consiglio (TEL Technology Center, America, LLC); Sarah Lombardo, Dina Triyoso, Kandabara Tapily (TEL Technology Center, America, LLC, USA); Ana Mian (TESCAN GROUP, Inc.); Nithin BVI Shankar (TESCAN GROUP, a.s.); Tomáš Morávek (TESCAN GROUP, a.s.,); Narendraraj Chandran (TESCAN GROUP, a.s); Robert Stroud (TESCAN GROUP, Inc.); Gert Leusink (TEL Technology Center, America, LLC) Hafnium and zirconium oxide based thin films deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD) are used as dielectric layers in advanced semiconductor devices. These films can also be stabilized in a ferroelectric phase for applications in memory, logic, and synaptic devices. ALD typically produces small-grained polycrystalline films containing a mixture of ferroelectric and non-ferroelectric phases with varying crystallographic orientations. Routine characterization of these films is critical for the research, development, and manufacturing of next-generation devices. While X-ray diffraction (XRD) is widely used for phase identification, it is limited to large-area, unpatterned thin films. Electron microscopy-based methods, in contrast, enable site-specific characterization within device structures, where local phase distributions may differ from blanket film samples. This presentation discusses automated analysis of four-dimensional scanning transmission electron microscopy (4D-STEM) precession electron diffraction (PED) datasets for hafnium zirconium oxide (HZO) thin films in TiN/HZO/TiN capacitor structures. STEM lamellae are often thicker than the average HZO grain size, resulting in dynamical diffraction contributions from multiple grains at many probe positions. Additionally, distinguishing between HZO crystal phases is challenging due to small differences in lattice parameters and the potential presence of multiple orthorhombic polymorphs, making automated phase mapping particularly difficult. PED offers advantages over nanobeam electron diffraction (NBED) for phase and orientation analysis, and we find that PED is necessary for reliable automated template matching in HZO diffraction data. Although automated phase and orientation mapping of HZO films using 4D-STEM has been previously demonstrated, a detailed assessment of different analysis methods has been lacking. Here, we compare results from a commercial software package (NanoMEGAS ASTAR) with an open-source framework (py4DSTEM). Correlation between automated phase maps and electrical verification of ferroelectricity confirms the identification of the non-centrosymmetric orthorhombic space group 29 phase of HZO.