VTT Finland to present PillarHall – test structures for accelerating thin film R&D at ALD For Industry

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd., to present silicon wafers and chips that can enable easy analysis of thin film conformality using well-defined, record-demanding microscopic 3-D structures at ALD For Industry in Dresden 17-18 January. The presentation "PillarHall – Lateral high aspect ratio test structures for accelerating thin film R&D" will be given by Dr. Mikko Utriainen who has a Ph.D. in ALD applications in chemical sensors in 1999 by employing ALD semiconductor metal oxides and metal ALD processes.

PillarHall® Backgound & Abstract

Conformality is a key figure of merit of ALD processes and increasingly important in 3D semiconductor devices, but challenging to quantify. Vertical test structures rely typically on time-consuming cross-sectional SEM analyses. PillarHall® lateral test structures enable easy, fast, and accurate measurements of thin film conformality in 3D structures with conventional surface analysis tools.[1]

 PillarHall® – accelerating thin film R&D, “What you can’t measure, you can’t improve.” [1]

PillarHall dimensions vary from the scale from <100 to > 1000 nm, and aspect ratios (AR) from low (5:1) to high (e.g., 40:1) to record-high (10000:1). With PillarHall and conventional microscopy, one can quickly analyse and optimize thin film process parameters to achieve the desired conformality at a given AR. Other information like e.g., the variation in thickness, chemical composition, microstructure and electrical properties along the film profiles provide insights of the process chemistry. This presentation will describe the PillarHall concept and show some recent examples of its use.

PillarHall® References

[1] PillarHall® – accelerating thin film R&D : www.pillarhall.com

 

[2] Nucleation and Conformality of Iridium and Iridium Oxide Thin Films Grown by Atomic Layer Deposition
M. Mattinen, J. Hämäläinen, F. Gao, P. Jalkanen, K. Mizohata, J. Räisänen, R. L. Puurunen, M. Ritala, M. Leskelä, Langmuir 32 (2016) 10559-10569.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.langmuir.6b03007 

[3] Microscopic silicon-based lateral high-aspect-ratio structures for thin film conformality analysis
F. Gao, S. Arpiainen, R. L. Puurunen, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A (letter) 33 (2015) 010601 (5 pages).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1116/1.4903941, open access [PDF]

New website by @VTTFinland! PillarHallTM - accelerating thin film R&D. https://t.co/441gXTxonc. #ALDep #CVDep #TestedWithPillarHall pic.twitter.com/cdFEq2YnQ9

— Riikka Puurunen (@rlpuu) November 29, 2016

Jouni Ahopelto presented the @VTTFinland poster on record-conformal #ALDep TiN at #ALD2016. Tested with PillarHall. pic.twitter.com/1DvTg0QfJQ

— Riikka Puurunen (@rlpuu) July 28, 2016