Quantitative measurement of strain field in strained-channel-transistor arrays by scanning moiré fringe imaging

Abstract

We have applied scanning moiré fringe (SMF) imaging in scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) to the quantitative measurement of a strain field introduced in p-type channels of transistors with an embedded Si1−xGex source and drain. The compressive strain field parallel to the channels was revealed by the SMF image. We showed that the quantitative strain profile extracted from the SMF image was coincident with the independent measurement by a high-resolution STEM image. In addition, we demonstrated that the strain measurement by SMF imaging can be performed for an extended field of view that is larger than half a micrometer.