Speakers

A*STAR - Inventor of Conductive Atomic Force Microscopy

Special Guest Interview:
Sean Joseph O’Shea

Deggendorf Institute of Technolog - Recent Trends in Characterization of Nanoelectronic Materials and Devices with Scanning Probe Microscopy

Guenther Benstetter

Biography:

Günther Benstetter received the doctorate degree in electrical engineering from Technical University of Munich, Germany, in 1994. He joined Siemens AG in Munich and the IBM/Siemens/Toshiba DRAM development project in Essex Junction, VT, USA, in 1995. Dr. Benstetter was appointed Professor at the Deggendorf Institute of Technology in Deggendorf, Germany, in 1998 and is head of the Institute of Quality and Materials Analysis. His research interests are in the fields of thin films, electronic materials and reliability and failure analysis of semiconductor devices. He has contributed to more than 80 publications and has co-organized several international conferences.

Title and abstract:

Recent Trends in Characterization of Nanoelectronic Materials and Devices with Scanning Probe Microscopy

The presentation discusses recent applications of established Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM) methods and new developments for the characterization of nanoelectronic materials and devices. The contribution includes various methods of Conductive Atomic Force Microscopy (C-AFM) as well as Scanning Capacitance Microscopy (SCM) based techniques, Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy (KPFM) and Scanning Thermal Microscopy (SThM). Case studies for the characterization of different materials and systems and related measurement artifacts are presented. Finally, the presentation discusses combined methods, extending the field of application of selected SPM-based characterization techniques.

Imec - Electrical AFM for Nanoelectronics

Umberto Celano

Biography:

Umberto Celano is a Senior Scientist at imec (Belgium), with expertise in materials analysis for semiconductor technology, device physics and nanoscale functional materials. He received his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Leuven – KU Leuven (Belgium) in 2015. His research has established a novel three-dimensional nanoscale imaging technique that combines sensing with sub-nm material removal to study materials in confined volumes. Currently, Dr. Celano’s research interests encompass nanoelectronics, nanophotonic, functional materials and VLSI metrology. In these areas, he conducted research in various institutions including KU Leuven, Osaka University and Stanford University.

Title and abstract:

Electrical AFM for Nanoelectronics

Next generation nanoelectronics for logic and memory are based on devices increasingly smaller, more three-dimensional in shape and containing even more types of materials. Therefore, the evaluation of nanometre-scale materials properties, including carrier profiling, strain, electrical and chemical sensing, becomes essential for a deep interpretation of device’s functionalities. Here, I will present the broad role played by scanning probe microscopies for the characterization of state-of-the-art CMOS devices with emphasis on dopant and carrier profiling as studied by two- and three-dimensional methods.

Park Systems - Non-contact AFM with Self-Optimizing and Pinpoint Scan Control for Quantitative Nano-Metrology

Sangjoon Cho

Biography:

Sang-Joon Cho, Ph.D. is a director in R&D Application Technology Center of 58 (23 in Korea, 25 in Abroad) Scientist and Engineers and VP. of Sales at Park Systems Corp. He is in charge of application development, demonstration, and technical writing. Previously, he was also a director in R&D of 30 people at Park for 12 years (Since 2005). His work over 20 years has built on diverse expertise in basic biomedical science and instrumentation and application development of SPM for Nano-metrology specially for media and semiconductor industry and Biomedical Science. He has been recognized with various awards and nationally fund research grants. In 2020, he is directors of two national grants developing optical hybrid AFM technologies.

Title and Abstract:

Non-contact AFM with Self-Optimizing and Pinpoint Scan Control for Quantitative Nano-Metrology

Over the past three decades, AFM (Atomic Force Microscopy) has evolved into an ideal methodology for non-destructive sample scan with longer tip life, higher accuracy, repeatability, and automation. AFM is improving steadily so that it can be widely adopted like other microscopes, such as optics and scanning electron microscopes (SEM). In addition to the recent advances in AFM technology, it further expands the AFM application area by combining with other metrological technologies such as white interferometer (WLI) and photo-induced force microscopy (PiFM). By utilizing the vibration-isolated platform and the low noise z scanner of AFM, the performance of WLI has been greatly improved achieving unprecedented high z resolution.

University of Twente - Nanoscale thermal mapping of Electronic Devices

Miguel Muñoz-Rojo

Biography:

Miguel Muñoz Rojo received his PhD (2015) in Condensed Matter Physics & Nanotechnology from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and M.S./B.S. in Physics from the Autonomous University of Madrid. He obtained a JAE pre-doctoral Fellowship from CSIC to study during his PhD how the reduction of dimensionality affects the transport properties of organic and inorganic thermoelectric materials. During this period of time, he carried out scientific stays at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (New York, USA), the University of Bordeaux (France) and the University of California Berkeley (USA). In 2012, he participated in the 62nd Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting in Physics after qualifying in an international competition among young talent scientists. From 2016 to 2018, he became a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University, studying two dimensional (2D) materials and devices based on them for thermal, electrical, and thermoelectric applications. In 2018 he became a Tenure Track Assistant Professor at Twente University. His line of research focuses on thermal management, energy harvesting, nano- and micro-scale thermometry and thermal sensing. For current research activities, please visit his group page: Advanced Materials for Energy Applications and Thermal Management.

Title and abstract:

Nanoscale thermal mapping of Electronic Devices

One of the greatest challenges of modern society is related to energy consumption, dissipation and waste. A prominent example is that of integrated electronics, where power dissipation issues have become one of its greatest challenges. In this talk, I will discuss how to characterize energy dissipation in electronics, like heating in transistors based on 2D materials or in the conductive filaments of resistive random-access memories (RRAM), using spatially resolved thermometry. As the size of materials and devices shrinks to nanometer, atomic, or even quantum scale, it is more challenging to characterize their thermal properties reliably. Scanning thermal microscopy (SThM) is an emerging method to obtain local thermal information of electronic devices by controlling and monitoring probe–sample thermal exchange processes. Gaining thermal insights of our electronics is essential to design energy efficient circuits and understand and optimize ultra-dense data storage.

Figure 1. Thermal measurements of conductive filaments in RRAM memory devices.

National Research Council of Italy -Conductive atomic force microscopy of 2D materials and heterostructures for nanoelectronics

Filippo Giannazzo

Biography

Filippo Giannazzo (PhD) joined CNR-IMM in 2006, he is Senior Researcher from 2010 and Research Director from 2020. He is expert in scanning probe microscopy methods for the characterization of carrier transport properties in advanced materials for micro- and nanoelectronics (wide-bandgap semiconductors, heterostructures, dielectrics, 2D materials). Author of 320 papers, 10 book chapters and 2 books (H-index=39, 4660 citations, source Scopus) and an international patent, he is frequently invited speaker in national and international conferences. He holds several national and international collaborations with academic institutions and industries. Involved in several national and EU projects, he is currently coordinating the FlagERA JTC-2019 project ETMOS.

Title and abstract:

Conductive atomic force microscopy of 2D materials and heterostructures for nanoelectronics

My presentation will provide an overview of conductive atomic force microscopy (C-AFM) applications to 2D materials for next generation micro- and nano- electronic devices, by discussing a number of relevant case studies:
(i) the lateral homogeneity of current transport in graphene grown by CVD or by thermal decomposition of SiC;
(ii) the Schottky barrier homogeneity of MoS₂;
(iii) the vertical current injection through 2D/3D or 2D/2D materials heterojunctions
The results of the nanoscale electrical characterization will be correlated to device level measurements, thus providing an insight in the phenomena limiting the performances of 2D materials-based devices.

Singapore University of Technology and Design - Conduction Atomic Force Microscopy for Gate Dielectric Reliability Analysis

Alok Ranjan

Biography:

Dr. Alok Ranjan is a postdoctoral research fellow at Engineering Product Development pillar at Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD). Alok’s research interest includes physical and failure analysis of emerging materials and nanoscale devices using scanning probe microscopy and electron microscopy techniques. Alok also contributes as a technical reviewer for various journals including Applied Physics Letters, Scientific Reports, ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, IEEE Transactions of Materials Device and Reliability and Microelectronics Reliability.

Title and abstract:

Conduction Atomic Force Microscopy for Gate Dielectric Reliability Analysis

Conduction AFM (CAFM) is used to measure localized electrical properties of wide range of materials and emerging nanoscale devices. In this talk, we will present some of the recent works to probe the nanoscale electrical defects, measure charge transport and understand mechanisms of dielectric breakdown in both conventional and emerging 2D dielectric materials (e.g. SiO₂, HfO₂, h-BN). Some of the practical applications of the CAFM for emerging non-volatile memory will also be shown. Finally, we will show an approach which can be used to quantify thermal drift in CAFM based time dependent spectroscopy measurements and describe an approach which can be used to prolong the dwell time of the CAFM tip at a location.

Soochow University - Calcium fluoride: an outstanding high-k dielectric for 2D electronics

Chao Wen

Biography:

Ms. Chao Wen received her bachelor’s degree in Physics from Wuhan University of Technology in 2018 and her first master’s degree in Nanoscience from Universitat Rovira i Virgili. She is now pursuing her second master’s degree in Physics at Soochow University. Ms. Chao Wen’s research focuses on the characterization of nanoelectronic behavior across dielectrics using conductive atomic force microscopy and 2D materials based resistive switching devices. She has published 8 journal articles (including Advanced Materials, Nature Electronics, Advanced Functional Materials, etc.) and 3 conference proceedings. Ms. Chao Wen also serves as a technical reviewer for Scientific Reports and Microelectronic Engineering.

Title and abstract:

Calcium fluoride: an outstanding high-k dielectric for 2D electronics

The integration of 2D materials in solid-state electronic devices and circuits suffers from the problematic interaction between 2D materials with adjacent 3D dielectrics in electronic devices, which results in a faster device degradation. Here we demonstrate that ultra-thin calcium fluoride (CaF₂) ionic crystals could be an excellent solution to mitigate this problem. By applying over 3000 ramped voltage stresses and collecting several current maps at different locations of the samples via conductive atomic force microscopy, it is statistically demonstrated that ultra-thin CaF₂ shows much better dielectric performance (i.e., homogeneity, leakage current, and dielectric strength) than SiO₂, TiO₂, and h-BN.