Variable magnification dual lens electron holography for semiconductor junction profiling and strain mapping

Dual lens operation for electron holography, which was developed previously (Wang et al., Ultramicroscopy 101 (2004) 63–72; US patent: 7,015,469 B2 (2006)), is re-investigated for bright field (junction profiling) and dark field (strain mapping) electron holography using FEI instrumentation (i.e. F20 and Titan). It is found that dual lens operation provides a wide operational range for electron holography. In addition, the dark field image tilt increases at high objective lens current to include Si 〈0 0 4〉 diffraction spot. Under the condition of high spatial resolution (1 nm fringe spacing), a large field of view (450 nm), and high fringe contrast (26%) with dual lens operation, a junction map is obtained and strain maps of Si device on 〈2 2 0〉 and 〈0 0 4〉 diffraction are acquired. In this paper, a fringe quality number, N′, which is number of fringe times fringe contrast, is proposed to estimate the quality of an electron hologram and mathematical reasoning for the N′ number is provided.

► Dual lens electron holography is implemented on FEI instruments (Titan and F20). ► Wide range of field of view (0.1–0.9 μm) and fringe spacing (0.5–6 nm) is achieved. ► Fringe quality number is proposed to quantify the quality of an electron hologram. ► Junction map at high spatial resolution is provided. ► Strain maps along 〈2 2 0〉 and 〈0 0 4〉 direction of Si by dark field electron holography are reported.