Reflectometric method for measuring residual oxides in through-silicon vias for 3D chip integration
- A significant aspect of fabricating 3D chip architectures is ensuring proper contact between the different layers of the chip, which often requires removing the underside of isolation layers before filling vias with conductive material. Currently, scanning electron microscopy is the established method for investigating such structures. In this paper, we propose a rapid, non-destructive optical analysis technique for the simultaneous measurement of through-silicon vias (TSV) depths, silicon wafer thickness, and residual oxide thickness. The proposed method utilizes Fourier peak shift analysis (FPSA) of reflectance measurements in the near-infrared (1200 nm—2200 nm) spectral regions. The application of FPSA to representative samples taken from a commercial TSV integration process for MEMS and CMOS fabrication demonstrated good agreement with reference scanning electron microscopy measurements, confirming the feasibility of the method for in-line and in-situ metrology. The results indicate that FPSA has great potential for real-time process monitoring and control during 3D chip manufacturing.
| URN: | urn:nbn:de:kobv:526-opus4-20633 |
|---|---|
| Publisher DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.564480 |
| Author: | Joachim Bauer, Friedhelm Heinrich, Francesco VillasmuntaORCiD, Claus VillringerORCiD, Johanna Reck, Sven PetersORCiD, Alexander Treffer, Christian Kuhnt, Steffen Marschmeyer, Oksana Fursenko, David Stolarek, Andreas MaiORCiD, Martin RegehlyORCiDGND |
| Parent Title (English): | Optics Express |
| Document Type: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Year of Publication: | 2025 |
| Volume: | 33 |
| Issue: | 15 |
| First Page: | 32175 |
| Last Page: | 32189 |
| Publisher: | Optica |
| Faculties an central facilities: | Fachbereich Ingenieur- und Naturwissenschaften |
| Publishing Institution: | Technische Hochschule Wildau |
| Tag: | Fourier transforms; effective refractive index; near infrared; ray tracing; scanning electron microscopy; thin film |
| Source: | Joachim Bauer, Friedhelm Heinrich, Francesco Villasmunta, Claus Villringer, Johanna Reck, Sven Peters, Alexander Treffer, Christian Kuhnt, Steffen Marschmeyer, Oksana Fursenko, David Stolarek, Andreas Mai, and Martin Regehly, "Reflectometric method for measuring residual oxides in through-silicon vias for 3D chip integration," Opt. Express 33, 32175-32189 (2025) |
| Copyright: | © 2025 Optica Publishing Group under the terms of the Open Access Publishing Agreement. Users may use, reuse, and build upon the article, or use the article for text or data mining, so long as such uses are for non- commercial purposes and appropriate attribution is maintained. All other rights are reserved. |
| Dewey Decimal Classification: | 6 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften / 62 Ingenieurwissenschaften / 620 Ingenieurwissenschaften und zugeordnete Tätigkeiten |
| 6 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften / 62 Ingenieurwissenschaften / 621 Angewandte Physik | |
| Funding: | Publikationsfonds der TH Wildau |
| Licence (English): | |
| Release Date: | 2025/08/04 |


