Theory and experiment of large numerical aperture objective Raman microscopy: application to the stress-tensor determination in strained cubic materials

Razvigor Ossikovski (1) , Quang Nguyen (1) , Gennaro Picardi (1) , Joachim Schreiber (2) , Pierre Morin (3)

1 LPICM - Laboratoire de physique des interfaces et des couches minces [Palaiseau]
2 Raman Division
3 ST-TOURS - STMicroelectronics [Tours]

We present the theory underlying the large numerical aperture objective micro-Raman backscattering experiment and apply it to the elaboration of a characterization methodology for the determination of the stress tensor in strained cubic semiconductor structures. The presented stress characterization technique consists in monitoring the variations of the stress-sensitive optical phonon peak position and linewidth while rotating stepwise the sample about its normal. The practical application of the technique is illustrated on a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) microelectronic structure demonstrating a plane stress-tensor determination.

Keywords: stress; semiconductor; Raman microscopy; numerical aperture

Domains: Physics [physics]; Condensed Matter [cond-mat]; Materials Science [cond-mat.mtrl-sci]

Razvigor Ossikovski, Quang Nguyen, Gennaro Picardi, Joachim Schreiber, Pierre Morin. Theory and experiment of large numerical aperture objective Raman microscopy: application to the stress-tensor determination in strained cubic materials. Journal of Raman Spectroscopy, 2008, 39, pp.661-672. ⟨10.1002/jrs.1911⟩. ⟨hal-00838065⟩