Study of Charge Neutralization Techniques to Prevent Copper Corrosion On Post-FIB Wet Stained Sample

This paper presents the study of various charge neutralization techniques to prevent copper corrosion on post-FIB wet stained sample. Conventional fast and economic wet staining on post-FIB copper processed sample can sometimes cause unwanted artifact such as copper corrosion due to build-up of charge on non-grounded, long copper interconnect structure during FIB milling. Some charge neutralization techniques such as probe-pin grounding, conductive paint application and UV treatment were investigated. The results revealed that these techniques can prevent/reduce copper corrosion effect on the samples and the most effective technique is recommended to prevent this artifact.