In this work, Raman spectral imaging was used to investigate the local stress fields in semiconductors. Raman spectroscopy is a powerful, nondestructive analysis technique that delivers detailed chemical information about the molecules involved in the scattering process. By analyzing the peak position of the Raman lines with high precision, even stress measurements in materials, like semiconductors, are possible. In Raman spectral imaging mode, a complete Raman spectrum is recorded at every confocal imaging point with integration times below 100 ms, while the sample is scanned in XY-direction. The automated evaluation of spectral features (sum, peak position, width, etc.) from the large number of recorded spectra (typically 10,000 to 100,000 spectra) produces chemical images of the analyzed material, or in this case, the stress distribution.

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