Laser equipment for hardness evaluation of semiconductor elements exposed to heavy charged particles (Review)

A review of laser devices that are currently used to perform hardness evaluation of microelectronic devices that are exposed to heavy charged particles, with respect to local radiation effects is presented. A brief classification of ionization effects in semiconductors caused by single heavy charged particles is provided. The possibility of using focused pulse-laser radiation for research on these effects is validated. A general approach to the construction of test systems that are based on picosecond lasers with sharp beam focusing systems is presented. The technical requirements for the basic modules of such systems are substantiated. The parameters of the domestic PICO-3 and PICO-4 laser test devices are compared to their foreign analogues and the means of their further improvement are given. The technical and operational characteristics of these devices that allow them to be used in various research tasks that require selective (with a submicron spatial resolution) object excitation by ultrashort laser pulses and recording of its response with exact timing of the moment of excitation, as well as for various precise technological operations, are discussed.