Application of Inline X-ray Metrology for Defect Characterization of III-V/Si Heterostructures

High electron mobility III-V materials are strong candidates for nMOS transistors at the 11 nm technology node and beyond. Integrating III-V materials with Si (III-V/Si) is an attractive approach because it leverages the current Si-based manufacturing platform. However, the large lattice mismatch between III-V and Si leads to defects in the channel and compromises device performance and reliability. This paper explores two inline X-ray based characterization techniques, high resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD) and X-ray diffraction imaging (XRDI), to characterize defects in novel III-V/Si structures. The benefits and limitations of these techniques will be discussed.