Defect analysis and mechanical modeling of high aspect ratio structure stability

As CMOS scaling progresses, increasing structural aspectratio (AR) and decreasing critical dimensions (CD) pose great challenges formechanical stability and defectivity control. High-AR structures are particularlysusceptible to collapse and damage during processing steps such as etching,cleaning, and drying.

High-throughput SEM-based defectivity inspection toolsproduce large image datasets, requiring automated algorithms for defectextraction and statistical analysis. By correlating these results with CD-SEM,X-SEM, and OCD metrology, stability criteria can be defined for various processconditions. This internship/thesis focuses on developing a data-drivendefectivity analysis pipeline to better understand the mechanical stability ofnanostructures under different process conditions.

Required Skills

• Strong analytical and programming skills
• Experience with image processing and/orstatistical analysis techniques

Type of internship: Master internship, PhD internship

Duration: >6 month

Required educational background: Physics, Mechanical Engineering, Materials Engineering

Supervising scientist(s): For further information or for application, please contact XiuMei Xu ([email protected])

The reference code for this position is 2026-INT-076. Mention this reference code in your application.

Imec allowance will be provided for students studying at a non-Belgian university.

Applications should include the following information:

• resume
• motivation
• current study

Incomplete applications will not be considered.