ARP Services
A. Capabilities Statement
Terahertz
Nanoscanning Spectrometer & 3D Imager (TNS3DI)
A New Groundbreaking Metrology Instrument for Semiconductor
B. Services
ARP is offering characterization services for just about
any semiconductor wafers and nano-system. Quotation is provided on a case by
case basis. Examples are available upon request.
Nanoscale imaging and quantification*:
Layers' thickness
Metal lines on wafers
Materials characterization
Lattice image
Stacking fault
Dislocations
Nanovoids
Delamination
3D imaging and size of 0D--3D nanomaterials
Graphene exfoliates
Carbon nanotubes
Nano-alloyes
Polymer-nano composites
Layer-by-layer analysis
Any non-metallic system
in non-destructive mode.
Spectral analysis of both surface and sub-surfaces of materials
Solid, Liquid and Gaseous
Anis Rahman, PhD
President/CTO
Phone: +1-717-623-8201
Email:
a.rahman@arphotonics.net
Web:
http://arphotonics.net
*Note: Overcoming the Abbe diffraction limit
Physics dictates that the ultimate image resolution
is set by the wavelength of the light used for imaging – the so-called Abbe
diffraction limit [1]. In 1873 Ernst Abbe found that light with wavelength λ,
traveling in a medium with refractive index
Since the wavelength of electrons is much smaller than that of photons (2.5 pm
at 200 keV), the resolution of an electron microscope is theoretically
unlimited. In practice, the resolution of an electron microscope is limited to
~0.1 nm due to the objective lenses in the system. As such the electron
microscopes (e.g., a TEM) and AFM seem to be the only option for nano-scale
imaging.
While these techniques are effective and accurate, they are destructive; require
tedious and time-consuming sample preparation. Additionally, they produce a
frozen-in-time image of a single surface. A semiconductor wafer, for example,
must be cut for inspection across its thickness. Samples may only be as big as
it may fit in the sample chamber that must be kept under high vacuum.
Up until now, there was no alternative for
nano-scale characterization of a whole wafer both on its surface and across its
thickness or the sub-surface in a non-destructive mode with layer-by-layer
inspection capability.
Applied Research & Photonics, Inc. (“ARP”) is a technology company in
Harrisburg, PA, USA. ARP has developed terahertz nanoscanning instrument,
providing the precision metrology required to measure critical, nanometer size
surface and sub-surface features on today’s state of the art semiconductor
chips. As these critical circuit dimensions are often smaller than a strand of
human DNA, it is imperative that the measurements are made with a non-contacting
probe which can accurately measure and graphically display such features of
interest with a resolution of <1nm.
The semiconductor industry’s concern with current inspection technologies are:
Surface contacting (Atomic Force Microscopes) can damage nanometer scale
circuits; X-Ray inspection techniques impart high energies which can damage
substrate lattice structures; UV inspection at wavelengths of 256 nanometers
(the current state of the art) are limited to a device’s surface structure only
and sub-surface defects are unobservable. Electron microscope measurements
involve destructive and tedious sample preparation, and also impart high beam
energies which can be detrimental to circuit structures. As such, semiconductor
companies are seeking new technologies in response to these challenging
measurement requirements. ARP has demonstrated its capabilities to answer the
above mentioned needs. Its products are being used by industry and university
research centers.
ARP is currently seeking funding for marketing its products and for formal
introduction to the multi-billion-dollar global semiconductor manufacturing
market. We propose a more formal presentation on our technology to the
appropriate parties. Your evaluation of our proposal and advisement on funding
would be greatly appreciated.
We invite your perusal of the following examples [2–4]. Additional examples are
available up on request. Many thanks in advance for your consideration.
Ernst Abbe, Arch. Mikrosk. Anat. 9, 413 (1873); also cited in Lipson, Lipson and Tannhauser (1998). Optical Physics. United Kingdom: Cambridge. p. 340. ISBN 978-0-521-43047-0.
Rahman, A.; Rahman, A. K.; Yamamoto, T.; Kitagawa, H., “Terahertz
sub-nanometer sub-surface imaging of 2D materials.” J. Biosens.
Bioelectron., 2016, 7:3