CHIARA MANCINI

Dottoressa di ricerca

ciclo: XXXVII


supervisore: Prof. Marco Rossi

Titolo della tesi: Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy and PhotoLuminescence for Nanoelectronics: Advanced Quality Control of Strained-Silicon Devices and Transition Metal Dichalcogenides Monolayers

Electronic devices and their many and varied integrated circuits components are entangled in modern society so deeply that "nothing can really work without them". This statement led to the relentless demand for enhanced performance, which has driven continuous advancements in nanoelectronics, where scaling down transistor dimensions has triggered unprecedented challenges. With the number of transistors per chip growing exponentially following the Moore’s law to accommodate increasing data processing needs and low production costs, conventional silicon-based technologies are being pushed to their physical limits, especially the Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Emission Transistor (MOSFET), brought already to a critical point for a few years by now, undermined by quantum phenomena and thermal effects, that hinders performance predictability and further scaling. Overcoming these limitations requires new ideas, ranging from the enhancement and upgrade of already employed silicon-based technologies (More Moore), to the exploration of alternative materials to replace transistor parts, up to designs to revolutionize its overall architecture (More than Moore). While these new technologies hold the key to future advances and ensure to accomplish the tasks of the incoming technology nodes, they also pose new hurdles in terms of characterization, particularly regarding the assessment of structural integrity, performance reliability, and fabrication repeatability. This PhD thesis wants to face these challenges and proposes an exceptional answer to the needs of this era of nanoelectronics, which requires precise, real-time observation techniques that can operate in the nanometer domain. This work presents Tip-Enhanced Optical Spectroscopy (TEOS) as a highly effective solution for this demand. TEOS is a cutting-edge technique that comprises Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (TERS) and Tip-Enhanced PhotoLuminescence (TEPL), based on the combination of optical spectroscopy and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) to provide both chemical and optoelectronic information at nanoscale resolution. By leveraging the high spatial resolution of the AFM, TEOS enables a correlative analysis of material properties, combining chemical and structural composition, morphological features, and optoelectronic behavior in a single, non-destructive process. This unique capability is crucial for real-time quality control in semiconductor manufacturing, particularly as the industry moves toward increasingly complex and miniaturized devices. The experimental section of this work aims to demonstrate the powerful capabilities of TEOS through its application on two prominent technologies proposed to enhance transistors performances: strained-silicon structures and Transition Metal Dichalcogenides (TMDs) monolayers. Strained-silicon, where the silicon crystal lattice is altered through controlled strain distribution, has great potential for improving the efficiency of conventional MOSFETs without requiring significant changes to existing manufacturing fabrication lines. However, achieving consistent strain configurations and detecting structural defects during the production process requires advanced, real-time analysis. Similarly, TMDs single sheets are less than a nanometer thick, thus imposing challenges in verifying their structural integrity and electronic properties, particularly in terms of defect detection, uniformity, and overall material quality. TEOS, with its nanometer-scale resolution and non-invasive nature, provides a robust tool for addressing these challenges, enabling detailed analysis of both strained-silicon and TMDs with unprecedented precision. The thesis is structured to first provide a comprehensive overview of the technological context, beginning with the history of transistor miniaturization and the barriers faced by the semiconductor industry in the Frond-End of Line of integrated circuits to guarantee the requirements of each technology node. It then introduces the concept of optical spectroscopy, both at the micro- and nano-scale, as a viable solution for seeing those structures and devices. A detailed discussion of TEOS is followed by an in-depth exploration of its application to strained-silicon and TMDs. For both the case studies proposed, the thesis will provide a comprehensive explanation of their features, the benefit they offer to semiconductor devices and thus how they can be efficiently characterized envisioning their future large-scale integration. Therefore, the experimental results of each section will highlight the efficacy of multiscale optical spectroscopies as standalone characterization methods. This research is conducted within the framework of the European project Challenges$-$Real-time nano-CHAracterization reLatEd techNoloGIES, which ran from April 2020 to August 2024. The project aimed to develop versatile non-destructive techniques for in-line multiscale characterization and real-time quality control of semiconductor devices, ensuring their compatibility with industrial production environments like cleanrooms, thanks to the development and testing of plasmonic TEOS tips, characterized by a Titanium Nitride (TiN) coating. A consistent part of the results of this thesis in fact will concern the TiN probes testing process, which was conducted on the macro-area of samples related to the silicon-based semiconductor industry. Therefore, the research presented here not only contributes to the goals of the single project and the broader European Chips Act but also paves the way for the integration of Tip-Enhanced Optical Spectroscopy into standard semiconductor manufacturing processes, ensuring that the next wave of technological innovation is built on a solid foundation of detailed material understanding and quality control.

Produzione scientifica

11573/1718932 - 2024 - Combined use of 3D X-ray microscopy and correlative microscopy for chemical-physical investigation of bronze Phoenician coins
Bernabale, M.; Cognigni, F.; Contessi, S.; Proietti, A.; Mancini, C.; Spagnoli, F.; De Vito, C.; Rossi, Marco - 04d Abstract in atti di convegno
congresso: 110° Congresso Nazionale SIF (Bologna)
libro: 110° Congresso Nazionale SIF - (9788874381401)

11573/1723152 - 2024 - Correlative analysis of advanced microscopy techniques for metallography and corrosion microstructures of bronze phoenician coins
Bernabale, Martina; Cognigni, Flavio; Contessi, Silvia; Proietti, Anacleto; Mancini, Chiara; Spagnoli, Federica; Rossi, Marco; De Vito, Caterina - 01a Articolo in rivista
rivista: MATERIALS CHARACTERIZATION (Elsevier Science Incorporated / NY Journals:Madison Square Station, PO Box 882:New York, NY 10159:(212)633-3730, EMAIL: usinfo-f@elsevier.com, INTERNET: http://www.elsevier.com, Fax: (212)633-3680) pp. - - issn: 1044-5803 - wos: (0) - scopus: 2-s2.0-85206181741 (0)

11573/1713453 - 2024 - From AFM to TERS: Unveiling the Nanoscale Morphological and Chemical Composition of Bovine Milk-Derived Extracellular Vesicles
Buccini, Luca; Proietti, Anacleto; La Penna, Giancarlo; Mancini, Chiara; Mura, Francesco; Rossi, Marco; Passeri, Daniele - 04f Poster
congresso: Symposium on microscopic characterization of the solid/liquid interface (Vallesana training center, Sondalo (Sondrio, Lombardia, Italia))
libro: Symposium on microscopic characterization of the solid/liquid interface - ()

11573/1718093 - 2024 - Raman and Tip-Enhanced Raman spectroscopy characterization of milk-derived extracellular vesicles: Toward nanoscale single vesicle analysis
Buccini, Luca; Proietti, Anacleto; La Penna, Giancarlo; Mancini, Chiara; Mura, Francesco; Rossi, Marco; Passeri, Daniele - 04f Poster
congresso: 28th International Conference on Raman Spectroscopy – ICORS 2024 (Rome)
libro: ICORS-2024 - ()

11573/1709439 - 2024 - Toward the nanoscale chemical and physical probing of milk-derived extracellular vesicles using Raman and tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy
Buccini, Luca; Proietti, Anacleto; La Penna, Giancarlo; Mancini, Chiara; Mura, Francesco; Tacconi, Stefano; Dini, Luciana; Rossi, Marco; Passeri, Daniele - 01a Articolo in rivista
rivista: NANOSCALE (Cambridge,UK: RCS PUBLISHING -Royal Society of Chemistry) pp. 8132-8142 - issn: 2040-3364 - wos: WOS:001196109900001 (1) - scopus: 2-s2.0-85189558073 (1)

11573/1710783 - 2024 - CHALLENGES: Advanced cleanroom compatible TiN probes for Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy
La Penna, Giancarlo; Mancini, Chiara; Mura, Francesco; Buccini, Luca; Passeri, Daniele; Rossi, Marco - 04f Poster
congresso: EMRS - 2024 Spring Meeting (Strasbourg, France)
libro: EMRS - Spring meeting 2024 - ()

11573/1709435 - 2024 - Strained silicon technology: non-destructive high-lateral-resolution characterization through tip-enhanced raman spectroscopy
La Penna, Giancarlo; Mancini, Chiara; Proietti, Anacleto; Buccini, Luca; Passeri, Daniele; Gambacorti, Narciso; Richy, Jérôme; Rossi, Marco - 01a Articolo in rivista
rivista: APPLIED SPECTROSCOPY (- [London]: SAGE - [Frederick Md.]: Society for Applied Spectroscopy) pp. - - issn: 1943-3530 - wos: WOS:001204877400001 (0) - scopus: 2-s2.0-85190769815 (0)

11573/1710784 - 2024 - Unveiling the effect of substrate on graphene via non-destructive multiscale Raman spectroscopy
Mancini, Chiara; Rocco, Daniele; Centeno, Alba; Zurutuza, Amaia; Wundrack, Stefan; Beckhoff, Burkhard; Stosch, Rainer - 04f Poster
congresso: EMRS 2024 Spring Meeting (Strsbourg, France)
libro: EMRS 2024 Spring Meeting - ()

11573/1719593 - 2024 - Multi-scale Characterization of laser-induced defects in the production of heterojunction photovoltaic cells
Proietti, Anacleto; Buccini, Luca; Atanasio, Pierfrancesco; La Penna, Giancarlo; Mancini, Chiara; Di Conzo, Corrado; Mura, Francesco; Galiazzo, Marco; Frasson, Nicola; Passeri, Daniele; Rossi, Marco - 04f Poster
congresso: European Microscopy Congress 2024 (EMC 2024) (Copenaghen)
libro: EMC 2024 - ()

11573/1701832 - 2024 - Strained silicon Technology: Non-destructive nanoscale characterization through Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy
Proietti, Anacleto; Mancini, Chiara; La Penna, Giancarlo; Atanasio, Pierfrancesco; Buccini, Luca; Passeri, Daniele; Rossi, Marco - 04f Poster
congresso: WORKSHOP SHARESCIENCE (Rome, Italy)
libro: WORKSHOP SHARESCIENCE - ()

11573/1691309 - 2023 - Analysis of Roman Era archaeological finds from Museo Territoriale del Lago di Bolsena with non-destructive investigation techniques
Alemanno, Valentina; Atanasio, Pierfrancesco; La Penna, Giancarlo; Mancini, Chiara; Cognigni, Flavio; Silvestri, Serena; Proietti, Anacleto; Rossi, Marco; Ciccola, Alessandro; Nucara, Alessandro; Barbaro, Barbara; Binaco, Paolo; Dini, Danilo - 04b Atto di convegno in volume
congresso: MetroArchaeo - 2023 IMEKO INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON Metrology for Archaeology and Cultural Heritage (Roma)
libro: 2023 IMEKO International conference on metrology for archaelogy and cultural heritage. Metro archaeo - (9789299009062)

11573/1700497 - 2023 - Analysis of Roman era archaeological finds from Museo Territoriale del Lago di Bolsena with non-destructive investigation techniques
Alemanno, Valentina; Atanasio, Pierfrancesco; La Penna, Giancarlo; Mancini, Chiara; Cognigni, Flavio; Silvestri, Serena; Proietti, Anacleto; Rossi, Marco; Ciccola, Alessandro; Nucara, Alessandro; Barbaro, Barbara; Binaco, Paolo; Dini, Danilo - 04b Atto di convegno in volume
congresso: International Conference on Metrology for Archaeology and Cultural Heritage (Rome, Italy)
libro: Proceedings - IMEKO TC4 International Conference on Metrology for Archaeology and Cultural Heritage - (978-92-990090-6-2)

11573/1684356 - 2023 - 3D fractures analysis and conservation assessment of wrought iron javelin through advanced non-invasive techniques
Bernabale, Martina; Cognigni, Flavio; Mancini, Chiara; Proietti, Anacleto; Mura, Francesco; Montanari, Daria; Nigro, Lorenzo; Rossi, Marco; De Vito, Caterina - 01a Articolo in rivista
rivista: SCIENTIFIC REPORTS (London: Springer Nature London: Nature Publishing Group) pp. 1-11 - issn: 2045-2322 - wos: WOS:001018507300012 (4) - scopus: 2-s2.0-85162940767 (7)

11573/1692790 - 2023 - Electrospinning technology to upscale the production of low-cost and high-filtering functionalized polymer-based nanofibers providing photocatalytic activity for bacterial inactivation in advanced face mask
Cimini, Adriano; Borgioni, Alessia; Mancini, Chiara; Proietti, Anacleto; Buccini, Luca; Stornelli, Eleonora; Schifano, Emily; Dinarelli, Simone; Mura, Francesco; Passeri, Daniele; Imperi, Enrico; Rinaldi, Teresa; Picano, Alfredo; Rossi, Marco - 04d Abstract in atti di convegno
congresso: NANOCON 2023 (Brno (Repubblica Ceca))
libro: Nanocon 2023 - ()

11573/1692785 - 2023 - Upscaling of Electrospinning Technology and the Application of Functionalized PVDF-HFP@TiO2 Electrospun Nanofibers for the Rapid Photocatalytic Deactivation of Bacteria on Advanced Face Masks
Cimini, Adriano; Borgioni, Alessia; Passarini, Elena; Mancini, Chiara; Proietti, Anacleto; Buccini, Luca; Stornelli, Eleonora; Schifano, Emily; Dinarelli, Simone; Mura, Francesco; Sergi, Claudia; Bavasso, Irene; Cortese, Barbara; Passeri, Daniele; Imperi, Enrico; Rinaldi, Teresa; Picano, Alfredo; Rossi, Marco - 01a Articolo in rivista
rivista: POLYMERS (Basel : Molecular Diversity Preservation International) pp. - - issn: 2073-4360 - wos: WOS:001117505800001 (4) - scopus: 2-s2.0-85179129565 (5)

11573/1718916 - 2023 - Probe chip nanofabrication enabled reverse tip sample scanning probe microscopy concept and measurements
Kim, Hyeon-Su; Peric, Nemanja; Minj, Albert; Wouters, Lennaert; Serron, Jill; Mancini, Chiara; Koylan, Serkan; Sergeant, Stefanie; Hantschel, Thomas - 01a Articolo in rivista
rivista: NANOTECHNOLOGY (Bristol: IOP Publishing.) pp. 265703- - issn: 1361-6528 - wos: WOS:001199599700001 (1) - scopus: 2-s2.0-85190256200 (1)

11573/1697357 - 2023 - Strain characterization in SiGe epitaxial samples by Tip Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy
La Penna, Giancarlo; Mancini, Chiara; Proietti, Anacleto; Silvestri, Serena; Buccini, Luca; Passeri, Daniele; Gambacorti, Narciso; Richy, Jerome; Rossi, Marco - 04f Poster
congresso: Nanoinnovation 2023 Conference & Exhibition (Faculty of Civil and Industrial Engineering (via Eudossiana) - Sapienza University of Rome, Roma)
libro: Nanoinnovation 2023: book of abstract, poster session - ()

11573/1684898 - 2023 - Strain characterization in SiGe epitaxial samples by Tip Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy
La Penna, Giancarlo; Mancini, Chiara; Proietti, Anacleto; Silvestri, Serena; Buccini, Luca; Passeri, Daniele; Gambacorti, Narciso; Richy, Jérôme; Rossi, Marco - 04f Poster
congresso: VISPEC 2023 School & Conference (Perugia, Italy)
libro: VISPEC 2023: book of abstract, poster session - ()

11573/1689233 - 2023 - Influence of the conductive coating on combined {CPEM} and Raman analysis
Mura, F; Dinarelli, S; Mancini, C; Proietti, A; Buccini, L; Silvestri, S; Passeri, D; Rossi, Marco - 04h Atto di convegno in rivista scientifica o di classe A
rivista: JOURNAL OF PHYSICS. CONFERENCE SERIES (Bristol : Institute of Physics Publishing) pp. 012012- - issn: 1742-6588 - wos: (0) - scopus: 2-s2.0-85173004205 (0)
congresso: Nanoinnovation 2022 (Rome)

11573/1684897 - 2023 - Challenges - real time nano characterization related technlogieeS
Proietti, Anacleto; La Penna, Giancarlo; Mancini, Chiara; Passeri, Daniele; Gambacorti, Narciso; Galiazzo, Marco; Zurutuza, Amaia; Centeno, Alba; Rossi, Marco - 04f Poster
congresso: EuroNanoForum 2023 (Lund; Sweden)
libro: EuroNanoForum 2023: Poster session - ()

11573/1661436 - 2022 - Comparison of different correlative AFM-SEM workflows on calcite moonmilk
Dinarelli, S; Mura, F; Mancini, C; La Penna, G; Rinaldi, T; Rossi, M - 04c Atto di convegno in rivista
rivista: IOP CONFERENCE SERIES: MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING (IOP electronic journals) pp. - - issn: 1757-8981 - wos: (0) - scopus: (0)
congresso: Nanoinnovation 2021 (Roma)

© Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza" - Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Roma