The presence of contaminants during the manufacture of semiconductor devices can lead to wafer defectivity, which limits yields. For semiconductor manufacturers to increase their yields, particle contamination must be minimised. Contamination can come from a number of sources. In order to identify the source of contamination, it is beneficial to know the composition and characteristics of the contaminants. To obtain this information, particle composition analysis is often performed. The most common technique in the industry is scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). Together, this is given the acronym, SEM-EDX. The SEM is used for characterising the particle morphology (shape/structure), whilst the EDX is used for characterising the particle chemical composition.
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