Publication of the journal

The section is currently being updated

Modern transmission electron microscopy permits comprehensive studies of the structure and determination of the composition of various multilayer heterocompositions. Transmission electron microscopy use for characterization of nanoscale layers requires the development and application of quantitative methods for analyzing electron microscopic data. In this work, electron microscopic data analysis methods were employed to study the layers of a phase-shifting photomask used in lithography operations in microelectronics. It was determined that the Mo0.03Si0.36N0.61, Cr0.49C0.03N0.48 and Cr0.38C0.05N0.28O0.29 layers are located in cross-sectional samples on the surface of the SiO2 substrate. It has been established that quantitative analysis of one-dimensional intensity profiles calculated by averaging its distribution in electron microscopic images along the substrate provides a precise measurement of the heterocomposition layers’ thicknesses, which were (69.91 ± 0.12) nm for the molybdenum-containing layer, (26.42 ± 0.17) nm and (20.00 ± 0.20) nm for the chromium-containing layers. An analysis of high-resolution electron micrographs and electron diffraction patterns obtained for planar-view sample has shown that the molybdenum-containing layer Mo0.03Si0.36N0.61 is amorphous, while the Cr0.49C0.03N0.48 and Cr0.38C0.05N0.28O0.29 chromium-containing layers have a polycrystalline structure with cubic crystal lattice with parameters of 0.406 and 0.408 nm, respectively. It was found using digital image processing that in the Cr0.49C0.03N0.48 and Cr0.38C0.05N0.28O0.29 layers, the average lateral sizes of crystallites are close to 6.7 and 7.4 nm, the average pore sizes are approximately 1.7 and 2.5 nm, and their porosity values are 6.4 and 16.6 %. The obtained results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods for quantitative estimation of the photomask layers thickness and porosity, and can be used in electron microscopic studies of various heterocompositions with nanoscale layers.
  • Key words: nanostructures, transmission electron microscopy, electron microdiffraction, focused ion beam, digital image processing
  • Published in: ELECTRONICS MATERIALS
  • Bibliography link: Volkov R. L., Kireev G. S., Podorozhniy O. V., Reshetnyak A. R., Anikin A. V., Borgardt N. I. Heterocompositions nanoscale layers characterization using digital processing of transmission electron microscopy data. Izv. vuzov. Elektronika = Proc. Univ. Electronics. 2025;30(6):707–720. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.24151/1561-5405-2025-30-6-707-720.
  • Financial source: the work has been supported by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation (Agreement FSMR-2024-004) and carried out using the equipment of the Resource Sharing Center “Diagnostics and Modification of Microstructures and Nanoobjects”.
Roman L. Volkov
National Research University of Electronic Technology, Moscow, Russia
Georgii S. Kireev
National Research University of Electronic Technology, Moscow, Russia
Oleg V. Podorozhniy
National Research University of Electronic Technology, Moscow, Russia
Andrey V. Anikin
National Research University of Electronic Technology, Moscow, Russia
Nikolay I. Borgardt
National Research University of Electronic Technology, Moscow, Russia

124498, Moscow, Zelenograd, Bld. 1, Shokin Square, MIET, editorial office of the Journal "Proceedings of Universities. Electronics", room 7231

+7 (499) 734-62-05
magazine@miee.ru