Scientific FEI Quanta 450

The Thermo Fisher Scientific / FEI Quanta 450 is a scanning electron microscope. The Quanta 450 is categorized for metrology and inspection use.^[3][2]

Scanning electron microscopes operate by directing a focused electron beam across a specimen surface and collecting emitted signals to build an image. Scanning electron microscopes rely on electron beam interaction with the sample to reveal fine surface and near-surface detail that is not accessible with ordinary optical imaging.

Scanning electron microscopes sit in the characterization and inspection portion of process development and manufacturing support rather than in the main patterned wafer transport path. Scanning electron microscopes are commonly used after process steps when engineers need high resolution visual evidence of line shape, residue, surface condition, profile change, or defect morphology. Scanning electron microscopes also support investigations that connect observed defects to earlier patterning, deposition, cleaning, or etch steps and can inform later process adjustment or root cause analysis.

Scanning electron microscopes are used off line for engineering analysis, failure analysis, process characterization, and detailed inspection of features produced by deposition, lithography, etch, and other unit processes. Scanning electron microscopes are used to inspect patterned surfaces, cross sections, particles, films, and fractured features across semiconductor, materials, and microfabrication work.