Techniques for mechanical strain analysis in sub-micrometer structures: TEM/CBED, micro-Raman spectroscopy, X-ray microdiffraction and modeling

In this paper, three techniques are discussed that provide information on process-induced local mechanical stress in silicon: the convergent beam electron diffraction technique of transmission electron microscopy, X-ray micro-diffraction and micro-Raman spectroscopy. We discuss the principles of these techniques, their spatial resolution, the ease-of-use, the information that can be obtained, the required sample preparation, the measurement time, and the complementarities of these techniques. We demonstrate this for stress induced by shallow trench isolation and correlate the results to finite element analysis results. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.