The Novel TEM Sample Preparations Technique for Long Dimension Trench

A novel ex-situ sample preparation technique is introduced in this paper. By thinning a deep trench or high aspect ratio structure perpendicular to the long dimension (i.e., from the side) to instead of thinning from perpendicular to the short dimension (either the top or the bottom), it is possible to obtain a more uniformly thin TEM specimen over the entire long dimension of the structure. This article will describe the sample preparation procedure and show some case studies to demonstrate the capability of this technique.