Defect Inspection Technologies

Leverage the advanced capabilities of cathodoluminescence technology to achieve unparalleled accuracy in defect inspection and materials characterization.

Technologies

Our Technologies Portfolio

Delve into advanced techniques such as Time-Resolved Cathodoluminescence (TRCL), g², and in-SEM Raman spectroscopy. Discover how these complementary methods enhance your material analysis and defect inspection capabilities.

Technology

Cathodoluminescence spectroscopy

Cathodoluminescence (CL) is a technique where radiation is emitted from a material after being excited by an electron beam. CL imaging shows light intensity across a sample, while CL spectroscopy analyzes the light's wavelength or energy. This method reveals crucial information about the material’s electronic properties, structural defects, and chemical composition. It is widely used for semiconductor research, optoelectronics, and material analysis in devices like microLEDs, transistors, and solar cells.

Technology

Quantitative Cathodoluminescence

Quantitative Cathodoluminescence (q-CL): Developed by Attolight, q-CL enhances cathodoluminescence by using an aberration-corrected reflective objective instead of parabolic mirrors. This setup aligns optically with the SEM beam, allowing for precise, large-area luminescence mapping without intensity or resolution artifacts, enabling quantitative measurements across entire sample surfaces.

Technology

Time-Resolved Cathodoluminescence

Attolight’s tool can be field-upgraded to measure pico-second luminescence decay times. Change from continuous to time-resolved mode can be done on the fly with software control. Learn more how we use TRCL.

Technology

EBIC/EBAC imaging

EBIC and EBAC techniques use an electron beam to image electrical properties of materials in SEM. EBAC maps current pathways, useful for detecting defects like short circuits, while EBIC highlights electric fields, mainly in semiconductor junctions, revealing key material properties.

Technology

Degree of Polarization (DoP)

Degree of Polarization (DoP) cathodoluminescence measures light polarization to study material anisotropy, strain, and other properties in semiconductors and devices like lasers and solar cells. The technique reveals strain anisotropy and helps optimize semiconductor components through precise polarization mapping.

Technology

Hyperspectral imaging

Hyperspectral imaging captures full spectra at each pixel, creating data cubes for advanced material analysis. It's used in optoelectronics, failure analysis, and process development to identify layers and defects.

Technology

Cathodoluminescence g(2) Autocorrelation

Technology

In-SEM electrical probing

In-SEM electrical probing, or nanoprobing, is a technique used to perform electrical characterization at the nanoscale within a scanning electron microscope (SEM). It involves using extremely fine, needle-like probes to measure and apply electrical signals to microstructures in devices like transistors, solar cells, and sensors. This method enables precise testing of materials, particularly in areas like optoelectronics, quantum technologies, and RF/power transistors. Nanoprobes are essential for detailed measurements such as resistivity, I-V curves, and EBIC/EBAC imaging, helping to advance research in microelectronics and novel materials development.

Technology

Cryogenic cathodoluminescence (cryo-CL)

Cryogenic cathodoluminescence (Cryo-CL) involves cooling samples to cryogenic temperatures, enhancing luminescence and enabling sharper spectral features by reducing thermal broadening. This technique stabilizes excitons, making it ideal for studying weakly-emitting samples or materials with fine spectral details.

Technology

In-SEM Raman spectroscopy

In-SEM Raman Spectroscopy enables high-resolution vibrational analysis in SEM, ideal for GaN, SiC, and perovskite applications in materials science, life sciences, and GaN device development. The technique uses inelastic light scattering to reveal structural details such as phonon modes, strain, and crystallography.

Technology

In-SEM photoluminescence

In-SEM Photoluminescence (PL) enables high-resolution analysis of optical and electronic properties in SEM, useful for semiconductors and organic materials. It captures emitted light after laser excitation, revealing details on band structure, impurities, and defects.

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Innovation

Quantitative Cathodoluminescence: Attolight’s Trademark

Quantitative cathodoluminescence (q-CL) is a technique pioneered by Attolight, derived from regular cathodoluminescence. It involves the use of an imaging reflective objective to collect luminescence signal from samples. The objective is aberration corrected and its optical axis is colinear with the scanning electron beam. This makes tool alignment significantly faster and enables optical alignment automation. It also eliminates intensity and resolution artefacts during CL data acquisition, enabling high efficiency CL hyperspectral mappings over much larger areas than using regular add-on technologies.

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Get in touch with us today to discover how our state-of-the-art cathodoluminescence tools can elevate your research and industry applications.

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Technology

About Cathodoluminescence

Attolight’s technology is based on cathodoluminescence spectroscopy technology. Cathodoluminescence (CL) is a well known phenomenon that refers to the light emitted by a material under electron irradiation.

The best known cathodoluminescence application is former television sets based on cathode ray tubes. When applied to semiconductor materials CL becomes a very powerful defect inspection method when implemented in a modern electron microscope (EM) that is capable of fast, non-destructive defect inspection on a full wafer scale.

Although cathodoluminescence has been known for a long time, technical implementations have been limited to manual laboratory use, mostly due to user-friendliness challenges as well as results reproducibility issues, two key points which Attolight devoted most of its resources addressing.

More about Cathodoluminescence

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