公开(公告)号：EP1535305A2

公开(公告)日：2005-06-01

申请号：EP03788451.7

申请日：2003-08-14

申请人： Brown University Research Foundation

发明人： XIAO, Gang

IPC分类号： H01J47/00

CPC分类号： G01Q60/54 ,  G01Q10/04 ,  G01Q30/04 ,  G01R33/0385

摘要： A scanning magnetic microscope SMM (20) includes a sensor (10) for sensing a magnetic field generated by a specimen (78), the sensor including one of a MTJ, a GMR, or an EHE sensor; translation apparatus (22A-C, 52) for translating the sensor relative to a surface of sad specimen; and a data processor (50), having an input coupled to an output of said sensor, for constructing an image of said magnetic field. The sensor preferably includes one to three sensing units each defining a sensing axis for sensing a component of a magnetic field from a specimen, the sensing units disposed such that the sensing axes are orthogonal to one another. Pluralities of such sensors can be disposed in two or three dimensional arrays. The SMM can be used for examining the current flow in ICs, electromigration, magnetic data storage media, biomagnetic systems and magnetic ink used to print currency.

公开(公告)号：EP1483595A2

公开(公告)日：2004-12-08

申请号：EP03744230.8

申请日：2003-03-07

申请人： BROWN UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FOUNDATION

发明人： XIAO, Gang ,  SCHRAG, Benaiah, D.

IPC分类号： G01R31/28

CPC分类号： G01Q60/50 ,  G01N27/82 ,  G01Q30/04 ,  G01Q60/54 ,  G01R33/0385

摘要： A scanning magnetic microscope (SMM) (20) includes a current source (27) for imposing an excitation current to a conductor-under-test (CUT) 70 and, if applicable, a reference current to a proximally located reference conductor (72). During accelerated testing, the SMM (20) corrects thermal drift of the CUT (70) via the reference conductor (72). A sensor (21) may be cooled by a heat sink (31) such as a pump (33) directing an airstream or a coldfinger (80). The sensor may switch from a contact to a non-contact mode of scanning the CUT (70). The SMM (20) and methods are useful for measuring electromigration in a CUT (70) as it occurs, for assembling the images into time lapsed representations such as a shape of the CUT (70), for measuring electromigration as a function of a cross sectional area of a wire under a dielectric material (DM) (78), for determining electrical parameters of the CUT (70), and for optimizing a thickness of a DM (78) over a CUT (70). The SMM (20) and methods are further useful for measuring morphological changes in a CUT (70) due to other stressing conditions, such as temperature, excitation current, physical stress(es), hostile environment, aging, semiconductor 'burn-in', or irradiation.