Semiconductor Etching // Optically Monitoring and Controlling Nanoscale Topography © Based on Material by University of Illinois, USA

University of Illinois researchers have a new low-cost method to carve delicate features onto semiconductor wafers using light – and watch as it happens. Chip makers and semiconductor researchers need to very precisely control the dimensions of their devices. The dimensions of the components affect performance, speed, error rate and time to failure. The Illinois researchers’ new technique can monitor a semiconductor’s surface as it is etched, in real time, with nanometer resolution. It uses a special type of microscope that uses two beams of light to very precisely measure topography.

Chris Edwards, Amir Arbabi, Gabriel Popescu and Lynford L Goddard: Optically monitoring and controlling nanoscale topography during semiconductor etching, In: Light: Science & Applications, Volume 1, September 28, 2012, e30, DOI:10.1038/lsa.2012.30: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/lsa.2012.30

Image: A three-dimensional image of an etched gallium-arsenide semiconductor, taken during etching with a new microscopy technique that monitors the etching process on the nanometer scale. The height difference between the orange and purple regions is approximately 250 nanometers. © Chris Edwards, Amir Arbabi, Gabriel Popescu, and Lynford Goddard