Electronic engineering and semiconductor materials

Find out how our analytical solutions can advance your knowledge of semiconductor materials, device processing, and electronic engineering

Want to know more about how our analysis methods can support your research in electronic engineering and semiconductor materials? Whether you’re a student, a researcher, or a professor, we’ve put together some relevant application examples of our solutions in semiconductor research and device processing.

The materials and analytical equipment used in these examples overlap with Materials Science and Engineering, and Physics and Applied Physics, so you may find additional information on those pages. Method abbreviations are explained at the bottom of this page.

Semiconductor research

Our applications in semiconductor research primarily involve high resolution X-ray Diffraction of epitaxial layers. Thin film growth by MBE, MOCVD or CVD are big research areas in Electronic Engineering and Physics departments. This is where we find the highest concentration of our High-Resolution XRD applications. There is a constant quest to develop new semiconductor materials and to overcome the many challenges of incorporating new materials into working devices. The table below provides a selection of application notes that exemplify typical measurements on semiconductor materials. Click on any of the links in the table to discover more!

Semiconductors Research

Method

Sample

Application Note Title (Link)

Epitaxial layers - finding reflections

HR-XRD

GaN / InGaN alloys

Available reflections for coplanar and in-plane XRD of GaN and related alloys

Epitaxial layers - rapid measurements

HR-XRD

InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells

Fast X-ray diffraction measurements on semiconductor structures

Epitaxial layers - thermal stability

HR-XRD

AlInN/GaN/Sapphire

Studying the thermal stability of gallium nitride based high electron mobility transistor structures

Epitaxial layers – strain, composition, and layer thickness

HR-XRD

Gallium Nitride and related compounds

XRD of gallium nitride and related compounds: strain, composition and layer thickness (booklet)

Epitaxial layers - strain, composition, and layer thickness

HR-XRD

GaAs on Ge on Si

Semiconductor thin films. Analysis of III-V solar cells on silicon substrates

Narrow bandgap (IR) semiconductors - film composition,  thickness

XRF

InxSy films on glass

Zetium - Analysis of InxSy layers on glass using Stratos

OLED polymers - molecular weight

GPC

Poly(phenylene-vinylene) (PPV) in Chloroform; 2) poly(fluorene-phenylenevinylene)(PF-PPV) in THF; 3) polythiophene (PT) in Chloroform

Conjugated Polymer Analysis by GPC-PDA

Perovskite semiconductors - defects

Reflection Topography

Perovskite LiTaO3 

Reflection topography with PIXcel3D

Phase change materials - crystalline phase identification

XRD / XRR

Germanium Antimony Telluride (Ge2Sb2Te5) PCM

Combining XRR & XRD for in-situ investigation of phase change materials

Thin films - In-plane methods

XRD / HR-XRD

Co films in hard disks, GaN on Sapphire

In-plane diffraction

Thin-film solar cells - overview

XRD / HR-XRD

Solar cell materials, general

X-ray diffraction techniques for characterization of thin film solar cells

Wide bandgap (UV) semiconductors  - thin film quality

XRD / XRR

ZnO films on glass

Comprehensive XRD investigation of ZnO thin films

Device processing

Malvern Panalytical’s wafer analyzer is not often employed in university research, but it is worth showing here some of the process fabrication instances where it is employed to measure elemental composition and film thickness. Wafer cutting and polishing is also an important step in device processing and particle size characterization is important to control the quality of cutting and polishing slurries.  Click on any of the links in the table to discover more!

Device Processing

Method

Sample

Application Note Title (Link)

Dielectric films - composition, thickness

XRF

Borophosphosilicate glass (BPSG) Dielectric films, Boron, phosphorous, Silicon

Analysis of BPSG films

Diffusion barrier layers - composition, thickness

XRF

Cu/TaNx multilayers on Si wafers

Simultaneous analysis of Cu/TaNx stacks

Diffusion/bonding metallization - composition thickness

XRF

TiNx layers on Si wafers

FP Multi analysis of TiNx thin films on Si substrates

Epitaxial layers -composition

XRF

Ge concentration in Si(1-x)Gex films

Analysis of Si(1-x)Gex films

Ferroelectric/Dielectric films - composition, thickness

XRF

Barium Strontium Titanate (BST) films on Pt

Analysis of barium strontium titanate (BST) films on Pt

Gate connecting layers - thickness

XRF

Tungsten (W) layers

Analysis of W films

Gate technology - layer thickness

XRF

WSix deposition on Silicon

Analysis of WSix films

Giant magnetoresistant multilayers - composition, thickness

XRF

Ta, NiMn, PtMn, CoFe, Cu, NiFe, Al2O3 thin films

Analysis of Giant Magneto Resistance GMR film stacks using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry

Interconnect layers- composition, thickness

XRF

AlCu interconnect layers on S substrate

Analysis of AlCu films

Passivation layers - thickness

XRF

Ni-Ta thin films on Si

Zetium - Analysis of Ni-Ta thin films using Stratos

Read/write heads for hard drives - layer thickness

XRF

CoNiFe films on hard drives

In-line process control of CoNiFe layers in the manufacturing of read/write heads

Wafer cutting slurry - particle size and shape

Imaging

Silicon carbide - abrasive slurry

Analysis of wire saw abrasive slurries to facilitate recycling using the FPIA-3000 automated dynamic image analysis system

Wafer polishing slurry – particle size

ELS / DLS

Silica-based particles in ammonia salt solution, silica-based particles in KOH solution

Characterization of SiO2 Slurry Samples Used in Chemical Mechanical Polishing

Wafer polishing slurry - zeta potential

ELS

 SiO2 or Al2O3 particles

Zeta Potential Measurement of Highly Concentrated CMP Slurry Dispersions

略語解説

当社の製品と技術については、製品ページを参照してください。以下では、当社の装置で測定された特性、測定名とその略称を簡単に参照できます。各メソッドをクリックすると、詳細が表示されます。 

略語

メソッド名

装置

測定された特性

DLS

動的光散乱法(DLS)

ゼータサイザー

分子サイズ、流体力学的半径RH、粒子サイズ、粒度分布、安定性、濃度、凝集

ELS

電気泳動光散乱

ゼータサイザー

ゼータ電位、粒子電荷、懸濁液の安定性、タンパク質電気泳動移動度

ITC

等温滴定型カロリメトリー

MicroCal ITC

結合親和性、溶液中の分子反応の熱力学

.dsc

示差走査熱型カロリメトリー

Microcal DSC

大きな分子の変性(アンフォールド)、高分子の安定性

GCI

グレーティング結合干渉法

Creoptix WAVEsystem

リアルタイムの結合反応速度と親和性、流体工学によるラベルフリー

IMG

全自動画像解析

モフォロギ 4

粒子の画像処理、形状、サイズの自動測定

MDRS

Morphologically-Directed Raman Spectroscopy

モフォロギ4-ID

粒子の画像処理、形状、サイズの自動測定、化学的同定、汚染物質の検出

LD

レーザ回折

マスターサイザー

スプレーテック

インシテック

Parsum

粒子サイズ、粒度分布

NTA

ナノ粒子トラッキング(軌跡)解析

ナノサイト

粒子サイズ、粒度分布、濃度

SEC または GPC

サイズ排除クロマトグラフィー/

ゲル浸透クロマトグラフィー(GPC)

OmniSEC

分子サイズ、分子量、オリゴマー状態、ポリマーまたはタンパク質のサイズ、分子構造

SPE

融合によるサンプル調製

Le Neo

LeDoser

Eagon 2

The OxAdvanced

M4

rFusion

XRF用溶融ビーズ試料の調製、ICP用過酸化物溶液の調製、ビーズ作製用のフラックス計量

UV/Vis/NIR/ SWIR

紫外線/可視/近赤外線/短波赤外線分光分析

LabSpec

FieldSpec

TerraSpec

QualitySpec

材料識別と分析、水分、鉱物、炭素の含有量。航空および衛星分光分析技術の地上検証。

PFTNA

パルス高速熱中性子活性化

CNA

インライン元素分析

XRD-C

X線回折 (結晶構造解析)

Aeris

Empyrean

分子結晶構造の精製、

結晶相の同定と定量化、結晶対非結晶比、結晶子径分析

XRD-M

X線回折 (ミクロ構造)

Empyrean

X’Pert3 MRD(XL)

残留応力、テクスチャ

XRD-CT

コンピュータ断層撮影法による X線吸収画像処理

Empyrean

固体、気孔率、密度の3D画像処理

SAXS

小角X線散乱法

Empyrean

ナノ粒子、サイズ、形状、構造

GISAXS

斜入射小角X線散乱法

Empyrean

ナノ構造の薄膜と表面

HR-XRD

高解像度X線回折

Empyrean

X’Pert3 MRD(XL)

薄膜およびエピタキシャル多層、組成、ひずみ、厚さ、品質

XRR

X線反射率法

Empyrean

X’Pert3 MRD(XL)

薄膜と表面、膜厚、表面、界面粗さ

XRF

蛍光X線

Epsilon

Zetium

Axios FAST

2830 ZT

元素組成、元素濃度、微量元素、汚染物質の検出