A variation of transmission electron microscope sample preparation for VLSI analysis

Abstract

Sample preparation for VLSI analysis is often slow due to long ion milling time and because the location of the thin area of the sample is difficult to control. By modifying the standard techniques used with a VCR Group (and perhaps other) mechanical dimpler, the ion milling time can be reduced to less than 30 min. and the location on the thinned area reasonably controlled. These modifications involve the use of a radiused edge on the dimpling tool, a rubber O-ring on the polishing tool, and not rotating the sample platen during polishing. The modifications to the dimpling and polishing tools allow more control of the geometry of the dimple, while not rotating the sample platen allows a thinner sample to be produced and permits the use of the sample translation micrometers to shift the location of the thinned area during polishing. The quality of samples produced using this modified procedure is equivalent to that obtained with the more standard methods.