Alphabetical Index
Browse by Elements
Keyword Search

Dry Etchants
Dry and Wet Etchants
Wet Etchants

Bulk Etchants
Layer Etchants
Nano Etchants
Single Crystal Etchants
Thin Film Etchants
Thin Foil Etchants
Wafer Etchants

Al Etchants
Cd Etchants
Ga Etchants
Ge Etchants
In Etchants
New Etchants
Other Etchants
Si Etchants
Zn Etchants

Help
Home

Molten Silicon/Aluminum Filament

Material Name: Silicon
Record No.: 174
Primary Chemical Element in Material: Si
Sample Type: Wafer
Uses: No data
Etchant Name: None
Etching Method: No data
Etchant (Electrolyte) Composition: No data
Procedure (Condition): No data
Note: Physical analysis of one of the ESD stressed devices was performed. After removing the silicon oxide by plasma etching, the silicon surface was observed using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). In the image shown in Figure 1, a filament short-circuiting the metallization with the substrate is observed. As could be expected, Energy Dispersive X-Ray (EDX) analysis identified silicon as well as aluminum in the defect. The presence of this molten silicon/aluminum filament explains the observed NB-TLS signal. The interface between this filament and the crystalline silicon substrate generated a non-negligible Seebeck voltage when heated by the laser.
Reference: Félix Beaudoin, et al., Laser Beam Based ESD Defect Localization in ICs, ISTFA 2002, Proceedings of the 28th International Symposium for Testing and Failure Analysis, 3-7 November 2002, Phoenix Civic Center, Phoenix, Arizona, pp. 543-551.


Figure 1: SEM image of the silicon substrate after plasma etching revealed a molten silicon/aluminum filament.