Simulation of X-ray phase imaging on integrated circuits

Abstract

A study on the simulation of the X-Ray phase imaging on multi-layered integrated circuits (IC) is presented. Model IC's were created with random nanoscale features. First order Rytov approximation was then used in order to accurately and rapidly create diffraction images. This study lays the foundation for future use as a forward model in limited-angle tomography or other inverse problems approaches (e.g neural networks) to reconstruct IC layout from x-ray diffraction images. In particular, it is hoped that the simulation presented here can be used to train neural networks that will carry out the inverse problem in experimental situations. The results of the study show that the first Rytov method is promising for use in this application of IC reconstruction.