Application of the high-resolution grazing-emission x-ray fluorescence method for impurities control in semiconductor nanotechnology

Abstract

We report on the application of synchrotron radiation based high-resolution grazing-emission x-ray fluorescence (GEXRF) method to measure low-level impurities on silicon wafers. The presented high-resolution GEXRF technique leads to direct detection limits of about 1012 atoms/cm2. The latter can be presumably further improved down to 107 atoms/cm2 by combining the synchrotron radiation-based GEXRF method with the vapor phase decomposition preconcentration technique. The capability of the high-resolution GEXRF method to perform surface-sensitive elemental mappings with a lateral resolution of several tens of micrometers was probed.