Method for automated calculation of grains and voids in metal films and TSV-structures

Scientific novelty of this work lies in the application of well-established methods (Feret diameter method and equivalent diameter method) in a new domain – the design and development of microelectronic components. Accurate measurements of metal grain sizes and voids in TSV structures are critically important for improving the reliability and performance of micro- and nanoelectronic devices. Manual methods for analyzing the morphological characteristics of materials are time-consuming and prone to subjective errors. This paper presents an automated approach for calculating grain sizes based on the processing of scanning electron microscope (SEM) images. The methodology incorporates two approaches for calculating the average grain size: the Feret diameter method and the equivalent circle method. The correlation between the results of these methods confirms the validity of the segmentation and the high accuracy of the analysis. Experimental studies demonstrate that the proposed methodology effectively identifies grains and voids, even in low-contrast and noisy images. The results confirm the versatility, high accuracy, and reproducibility of the method, as well as its potential for integration into quality control and microelectronic system design processes. The automation of analysis significantly reduces the human factor, shortens data processing time, and opens up new opportunities for optimizing the manufacturing processes of micro- and nanoelectronic devices.