3D grain imaging now even more precise

A team of researchers from Leti, INAC, and ESRF combined X-ray tomography and Laue microdiffraction to determine the crystallographic orientation of micrometric grains. The technique, used in this case on 80-micron-thick copper vias, also indicates the area of deformation in the silicon matrix that surrounds the vias.

Laue microdiffraction is very effective on thin films, where each grain is the thickness of the film. But because the technique is not as effective for 3D structures, the researchers combined it with X-ray tomography to get similar measurements indicating the precise location of each grain. These results, of an unparalleled precision, will be used to improve microelectronic production processes.

Contacts: pierre.bleuet@cea.fr ; patrice.gergaud@cea.fr

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