Developing micro ADI methodology for new litho process monitoring strategies

Mäge, Iris; Seifert, Uwe; Saville, B.P.; Tuckermann, Martin

doi:10.1117/12.711416

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…Recent studies showed that a darkfield imaging inspector provided the necessary sensitivity and noise suppression capabilities for litho process monitoring at high throughputs. 1 This demonstration of effective μADI defect capture suggested that the darkfield imaging inspector had the capabilities necessary to be used for PWQ applications.…”

Section: Pwq Overviewmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…A novel technique for patterned wafer darkfield inspection has recently proven to provide good capabilities in noise suppression for lithography layers, enabling in-line yield monitoring for μADI. 1 The successful use of a darkfield inspector for litho monitoring led to the investigation of using this darkfield inspector for PWQ. This paper presents the results of this investigation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Development and implementation of PWQ on patterned wafer darkfield inspection systems

Streller¹,

Wendt²,

Wehner³

et al. 2009

Metrology, Inspection, and Process Control for Microlithography XXIII

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Process Window Qualification (PWQ) is a well-established wafer inspection technique used to qualify the design of mask sets and to characterize lithography process windows. While PWQ typically employs a broadband brightfield inspector, novel techniques for patterned wafer darkfield inspection have proven to provide sufficient sensitivity along with noise suppression benefits for lithography layers. This paper describes the introduction and implementation of PWQ on patterned wafer darkfield inspectors. An initial project characterized critical PWQ requirements on the darkfield inspector. The results showed that this new approach meets performance requirements, such as defect of interest (DOI) detection and process window characterization, as well as ease-of-use requirements such as automated setup for advanced design rule products.

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Section: Pwq Overviewmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development and implementation of PWQ on patterned wafer darkfield inspection systems

Streller¹,

Wendt²,

Wehner³

et al. 2009

Metrology, Inspection, and Process Control for Microlithography XXIII

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Compared to a wafer with a real product stack, a bare silicon wafer provides best signal to noise ratio and a reduced number of nuisance defects since the absence of stack fluctuations result in a very homogeneous background signal. 6,7 The inspection of the printed pattern was done on a KLA 2800 wafer inspection tool. This is a very sensitive broadband DUV/UV/VIS inspection tool with bright field option designed for a 65-nm ground rule.…”

Section: Experimental Conditionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wafer inspection as alternative approach to mask defect qualification

Holfeld

Katzwinkel²,

Seifert³

et al. 2007

SPIE Proceedings

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Defect inspection is one of the major challenges in the manufacturing process of photomasks. The absence of any printing defect on patterned mask is an ultimate requirement for the mask shop, and an increasing effort is spent in order to detect and subsequently eliminate these defects. Current DUV inspection tools use wavelengths five times or more larger than the critical defect size on advanced photomasks. This makes the inspectability of high-end mask patterns (including strong OPC and small SRAF's) and sufficient defect sensitivity a real challenge. The paper evaluates the feasibility of inspecting the printed wafer as an alternative way for the high-sensitivity defect inspection of photomasks. Defects originating in the mask can efficiently be filtered as repeated defects in the various dies on wafer. Using a programmed-defect mask of 65-nm technology, a reliable detection of the printing defects was achieved with an optimized inspection process. These defects could successfully be traced back to the photomask in a semi-automated process in order to enable a following repair step. This study shows that wafer inspection is able to provide a full defect qualification of advanced photomasks with the specific advantage of assessing the actual printability of arbitrary defects.

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