Semiconductor

Nanoprobing

Land ultra-fine needles on individual transistors to measure their electrical behaviour at the most advanced nodes.

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Measuring the I–V curve of a single transistor is routine, until the transistor shrinks to a few tens of nanometres. Then it becomes one of the hardest measurements in the failure-analysis lab, demanding probes with sub-nanometre positioning and the mechanical stability to hold contact for the measurement.

Kleindiek nanoprobing lands ultra-fine needles on individual device terminals inside your SEM or FIB/SEM, with the throughput a busy FA lab needs. The articles here go deeper: the introduction explains the measurement and the hardware, the current-imaging techniques show how to locate a defect before probing it, and the video series shows systems at work.

3 nmtechnology node and beyond

8+independent probes

<0.02 nmprobe resolution

<50 fA/Vinsulation leakage

Reading material

Datasheets & application notes

Explore

Articles & videos

Short, focused reads and in-microscope footage — start with the introduction or jump to a technique.

Introduction

What is nanoprobing?

How in-situ probing measures the electrical behaviour of individual transistors at the most advanced nodes.

Technical deep-dives

A row of five false-colour current-contrast images labelled EBIC, EBAC, RCI, EBIRCH and EBIV, each overlaid on a grey SEM view of a semiconductor structure.

Current imaging for failure analysis

Electron-beam current-imaging techniques that localize faults before you probe.

Split SEM/EBIC view of two probe tips converging on interconnect lines on 3 nm-class technology, with a 0.900 µm scale bar.

EBIC — Electron-Beam-Induced Current

Mapping where a device collects beam-generated carriers, to image p–n junctions, depletion regions and recombination sites.

Four-panel current map of a probe tip contacting a metal grid at 100 V to 300 V bias, the current spread widening with voltage.

EBAC — Electron-Beam Absorbed Current

Tracing conductive paths and finding opens in interconnects, with no bias applied to the device.

Current map localizing a small signal between two probe tips on a dense interconnect array, 0.400 µm scale bar.

RCI — Resistive Contrast Imaging

Two-contact current-division imaging that reveals the resistance distribution along a net.

EBIRCH — Electron-Beam-Induced Resistance Change

Biased, AC current imaging that lights up resistive and leaky defects as bright spots.

EBIV false-colour voltage map around a ring-shaped structure with a 3 Ω region marked.

EBIV — Electron-Beam-Induced Voltage

Reading the beam-induced voltage to reach high-impedance and floating nodes that current maps miss.

Video series

Nanoprobing in the microscope

In-situ nanoprobing and failure analysis, filmed inside the SEM, from probe landing to live I–V curves.

Tools

Products used

A strip of five current-contrast example images labelled EBIC, EBAC, RCI, EBIRCH and EBIV — false-colour defect maps overlaid on SEM views of semiconductor structures.

EBIC Amplifier

A low-noise current amplifier that turns the electron beam into a defect-mapping tool — EBIC, EBAC, RCI, EBIRCH and EBIV from a single unit.

The PS4 Prober Shuttle for the Phenom XL — a stainless-steel module whose circular bay holds four ultra-flat MM4 micromanipulators with gold flex-circuit wiring around a central sample stage.

Prober Shuttle PS4 @ Phenom XL

Four-probe in-situ electrical nanoprobing inside the Phenom XL desktop SEM, built on the ultra-flat MM4 manipulator platform.

Top-down view of the PS8e Prober Shuttle, eight MM4 manipulators converging on a central chip.

Prober Shuttle PS8e

A compact, fully integrated nanoprobing system — now encoded for automatic probe pre-alignment at the 3 nm node and beyond.

SEM images of nine Mesoscope tungsten probe tips at radii from 50 nm to 5 nm, shown against a 5 µm scale bar.

Mesoscope Probe Tips

High-end tungsten probe tips with radii from 250 nm down to 5 nm — ready to probe straight from the pack.

SEM image of eight nanoprobe tips converging on a patterned chip surface, 200 nm scale bar.

Prober Shuttle PS8

High-precision in-situ electrical nanoprobing with up to eight ultra-flat MM4 manipulators — for advanced-node failure analysis.

A set of fine tungsten PicoProbe needles resting on blue foam in a clear case, with a millimetre scale bar.

PicoProbe Tips

Tungsten probe tips for everyday probing — most commonly 100 nm radius, packaged under protective atmosphere.

The PS4 Prober Shuttle hardware — a circular stage carrying four ultra-flat MM4 manipulators with copper and gold detail.

Prober Shuttle PS4

A compact two- or four-probe nanoprobing system for in-situ electrical characterization at advanced nodes.

LT14030

A 30 mm-travel encoded linear table with dual-encoder yaw compensation — an economical alternative to laser-interferometer stages.

The NW4 platform — a load-lock-compatible base with space for up to four MM3A-EM micromanipulators arranged around a large substrate.

NW4

A load-lock platform hosting up to four MM3A-EM manipulators — nanoprobing and failure analysis on large substrates up to 120 × 120 mm.

The LCMK-EM low-noise probe-tip holder on a Kleindiek MM3A-EM micromanipulator, with shielded triax cabling running to a fine tungsten probe tip.

Probe-Tip Holder LCMK

A low-noise, low-resistance probe-tip holder that turns a Kleindiek manipulator into a precision nanoprober — resolving currents down to 3 fA.

The ProbeWorkstation+ — multiple MM3A-EM micromanipulators arranged around a central sample on a long-range substage.

ProbeWorkstation+

ProbeWorkstation+

Up to eight manipulators, a roof-mounted prober and a 30 mm substage — a complete in-SEM probe station, installed or removed in 60 seconds.

The Micro Heating and Cooling Stub mounted on a Prober Shuttle PS8.

Heating & Cooling Stage for PS8

A heated/cooled stub for the Prober Shuttle PS8 — regulate sample temperature from −20 °C to +150 °C during probing, water-cooling-free.

SFLT3310

An ultra-low-profile 3.8 mm-tall piezo linear table — smooth XY motion in the tightest spaces, ideal paired with the Prober Shuttle.

Evidence

Related publications

All publications

2009Physical Review B 80

Magnetic energies of single submicron permalloy rectangles determined via magnetotransport

André Kobs et al.

DOI 10.1103/PhysRevB.80.134415

2008Nanotechnology 19

Exploring the conduction in atomic-sized metallic constrictions created by controlled ion etching

A. Fernández-Pacheco et al.

DOI 10.1088/0957-4484/19/41/415302

2008Applied Physics Letters 93

Accurate electrical testing of individual gold nanowires by in situ scanning electron microscope nanomanipulators

Yong Peng et al.

DOI 10.1063/1.3005423

2008Review of Scientific Instruments 79

Integrated setup for the fabrication and measurement of magnetoresistive nanoconstrictions in ultrahigh vacuum

Daniel Stickler et al.

DOI 10.1063/1.2981693

2007Microelectronics Reliability 47

3D failure analysis in depth profiles of sequentially made FIB cuts

C. N. McAuley et al.

DOI 10.1016/j.microrel.2007.07.032

2006Nanotechnology 17

Establishing Ohmic contacts for in situ current–voltage characteristic measurements on a carbon nanotube inside the scanning electron microscope

Qing Chen et al.

DOI 10.1088/0957-4484/17/4/041

2005Review of Scientific Instruments 76

Development and performance of the nanoworkbench: A four tip STM for conductivity measurements down to submicrometer scales

Olivier Guise et al.

DOI 10.1063/1.1878213

Performing probe experiments in the SEM

L.-M. Peng et al.

DOI 10.1016/j.micron.2003.12.005

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