Semiconductors & Failure Analysis: In situ TEM

Overview

Probe device physics under live operating conditions

Semiconductor devices are becoming increasingly complex as technology nodes continue to shrink and new materials are introduced for advanced logic, memory, power electronics and optoelectronic devices. Understanding electrical behavior, interface evolution, defect formation and failure mechanisms at the nanoscale is therefore essential for improving device performance, reliability and manufacturing yield.

DENSsolutions platforms let researchers combine electrical biasing, heating, cooling and advanced analytical techniques inside the electron microscope, so semiconductor devices can be investigated under realistic operating conditions. From resistive switching and phase-change memory to ferroelectric devices, wide-bandgap semiconductors, EBIC imaging and advanced failure analysis, these capabilities give direct insight into the dynamic behavior of semiconductor devices and functional materials.

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Enabling the Acquisition of Electron Beam-Induced Current (EBIC) Images in Conventional SEM and STEM Instruments

Electron beam-induced current (EBIC) imaging is one of the most powerful techniques for characterizing electrically active defects, junctions, carrier transport and failure mechanisms in semiconductor devices. This work shows how EBIC imaging can be implemented in conventional SEM and STEM instruments, widening access to nanoscale electrical characterization considerably. Samples were biased on DENSsolutions Lightning nano-chips, with the electrical connections in the STEM provided by a Lightning Arctic heating, cooling and biasing holder, and the resulting EBIC images resolve gold nanoparticles at around 1 nm.

Camino, F. et al. Enabling the Acquisition of Electron Beam-Induced Current (EBIC) Images in Conventional SEM and STEM Instruments. Microscopy and Microanalysis 31(5), ozaf080 (2025).

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Bright-field STEM and EBIC images of gold nanoparticles acquired at about 1 nm resolution

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In Situ Transmission Electron Microscopy of Resistive Switching in Thin Silicon Oxide Layers

Resistive random access memory (ReRAM) is one of the most promising candidates for next-generation non-volatile memory. This pioneering study visualized resistive switching inside silicon oxide devices during electrical operation, showing how conductive filaments form and dissolve over repeated switching cycles. Bright-field TEM movies recorded while the device switched, together with off-axis electron holography of the potential drop across the dielectric, place the start of the electroforming process at the interface between the SiOx layer and the lower contact.

Duchamp, M. et al. In Situ Transmission Electron Microscopy of Resistive Switching in Thin Silicon Oxide Layers. Resolution and Discovery 1(1), 27–33 (2016).

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Bright-field TEM series of filament formation in a SiOx device during electrical switching

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In-Situ Observation of Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ Crystallization at the Passivated Interface

Phase-change materials such as Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ (GST) are widely used in optical storage and emerging phase-change memory devices. This work observed crystallization at passivated interfaces during thermal treatment, providing insight into phase transformation kinetics and interface stability. Understanding these mechanisms is essential for improving switching speed, endurance and data retention.

Ren, K. et al. In-Situ Observation of Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ Crystallization at the Passivated Interface. Ceramics International 45(15), 19542–19546 (2019).

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Time-resolved TEM series of Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ crystallizing at a passivated interface during a heating pulse

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In-Situ Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy Study of the Al-Amorphous SiO₂ Layer-SiC Interface

Interfaces between metals, oxides and semiconductors are fundamental to electronic packaging, power electronics and high-temperature devices. This study followed an Al-SiO₂-SiC interface while it was heated inside the microscope, resolving the interfacial reactions, elemental interdiffusion and dissolution mechanisms that drive microstructural evolution. Heating experiments like these reveal dynamic interfacial processes that post-mortem analysis cannot capture, and feed straight into the reliability and lifetime of semiconductor packaging technologies.

Adabifiroozjaei, E. et al. In-Situ Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy Study of Al-Amorphous SiO₂ Layer-SiC Interface. Journal of Materials Science 58(6), 2456–2468 (2023).

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Al and SiC lamella mounted on a DENSsolutions Lightning nano-chip for in situ heating

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Micro-Electromechanical System-Based Cryogenic and Heating In Situ Transmission Electron Microscopy for Investigating Phase Transitions and Domain Evolution in Single-Crystal BaTiO₃

Ferroelectric materials such as BaTiO₃ are essential for non-volatile memories, sensors, actuators, RF devices and emerging neuromorphic computing. This work followed ferroelectric domain evolution from cryogenic to elevated temperatures, showing how domain walls move and polarization switches as the crystal passes through its rhombohedral, orthorhombic, tetragonal and cubic phases. The film shows domains responding to an applied bias in the orthorhombic phase at -55 °C.

Jiang, T. et al. Micro-Electromechanical System-Based Cryogenic and Heating In Situ Transmission Electron Microscopy for Investigating Phase Transitions and Domain Evolution in Single-Crystal BaTiO₃. Microstructures 4, 2024058 (2024).

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Semiconductors & Failure Analysis

Probe device physics under live operating conditions

Platforms for this research area

Lightning

Lightning Arctic

FireBolt

Featured experiments

Enabling the Acquisition of Electron Beam-Induced Current (EBIC) Images in Conventional SEM and STEM Instruments

In Situ Transmission Electron Microscopy of Resistive Switching in Thin Silicon Oxide Layers

In-Situ Observation of Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ Crystallization at the Passivated Interface

In-Situ Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy Study of the Al-Amorphous SiO₂ Layer-SiC Interface

Micro-Electromechanical System-Based Cryogenic and Heating In Situ Transmission Electron Microscopy for Investigating Phase Transitions and Domain Evolution in Single-Crystal BaTiO₃

Advance your semiconductor and failure analysis research