Non-destructive depth-resolved characterization of residual strain fields in high electron mobility transistors using differential aperture x-ray microscopy
Abstract
Localized residual stress and elastic strain concentrations in microelectronic devices often affect the electronic performance, resistance to thermomechanical damage, and, likely, radiation tolerance. A primary challenge for the characterization of these concentrations is that they exist over sub-μm length-scales, precluding their characterization by more traditional residual stress measurement techniques. Here, we demonstrate the use of synchrotron x-ray-based differential aperture x-ray microscopy (DAXM) as a viable, non-destructive means to characterize these stress and strain concentrations in a depth-resolved manner. DAXM is used to map two-dimensional strain fields between the source and the drain in a gallium nitride (GaN) layer within high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) with sub-μm spatial resolution. Strain fields at various positions in both pristine and irradiated HEMT specimens are presented in addition to a preliminary stress analysis to estimate the distribution of various stress components within the GaN layer. γ-irradiation is found to significantly reduce the lattice plane spacing in the GaN along the sample normal direction, which is attributed to radiation damage in transistor components bonded to the GaN during irradiation.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Oct 10, 2022
- Source ID
- 10.1063/5.0109606
Entities
People
- Aman Haque
- Darren C Pagan
- Dina Sheyfer
- Md Abu Jafar Rasel
- Rachel E. Lim
- Wenjun Liu
Organizations
- Argonne National Laboratory
- Defense Threat Reduction Agency
- National Science Foundation
- Pennsylvania State University
- United States Department of Energy