Applications of site-specific scanning spreading resistance microscopy (SSRM) to failure analysis of production lines

Much attention has been paid to the site-specific scanning spreading resistance microscopy (SSRM) for visualizing impurity-diffusion layers because of its capability of failure analysis as well as analyzing scaled LSI devices. We report applications of the site-specific SSRM to failure analysis in LSI production lines for the first time. SSRM is shown to be capable of observing no implantation areas with high spatial resolution by combining with defect localization techniques. The combination of the site-specific SSRM with multiple failure analysis techniques in addition to design and process information has been demonstrated to be a powerful tool to find root causes in a short period.