Quantitative Analysis of Tunnel Oxide Nitrogen Concentration in 3D NAND using Low Acceleration Voltage, Low Current and Low Temperature STEM-EELS

In 3D NAND device, the chemical composition of tunnel oxide (Tox) is an important factor, but hard to be measured due to the movement of N atoms caused by electron beam damage during TEM analysis. We measured the atomic concentration of N in Tox with standard deviation of <1.5% without N shift by minimizing the electron exposure using low acceleration voltage, low current and low temperature STEM-EELS.