Optical wafer defect inspection at the 10 nm technology node and beyond

Abstract

The growing demand for electronic devices, smart devices, and the Internet of Things constitutes the primary driving force for marching down the path of decreased critical dimension and increased circuit intricacy of integrated circuits. However, as sub-10 nm high-volume manufacturing is becoming the mainstream, there is greater awareness that defects introduced by original equipment manufacturer components impact yield and manufacturing costs. The identification, positioning, and classification of these defects, including random particles and systematic defects, are becoming more and more challenging at the 10 nm node and beyond. Very recently, the combination of conventional optical defect inspection with emerging techniques such as nanophotonics, optical vortices, computational imaging, quantitative phase imaging, and deep learning is giving the field a new possibility. Hence, it is extremely necessary to make a thorough review for disclosing new perspectives and exciting trends, on the foundation of former great reviews in the field of defect inspection methods. In this article, we give a comprehensive review of the emerging topics in the past decade with a focus on three specific areas: (1) the defect detectability evaluation, (2) the diverse optical inspection systems, and (3) the post-processing algorithms. We hope, this work can be of importance to both new entrants in the field and people who are seeking to use it in interdisciplinary work.

Theoretical Design of a Bionic Spatial 3D-Arrayed Multifocal Metalens

“…However, the limitations of those existing fabrication techniques make it difficult to fabricate three-dimensional (3D) metamaterials [ 9 , 10 ]. Therefore, the two-dimensional (2D) metamaterials, metasurfaces, have been rapidly developed and applied owing to their relatively easy fabrication methods and technologies [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ]. Moreover, metasurfaces can control the amplitude [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ], phase [ 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 ], and polarization [ 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 ] of electromagnetic waves, leading to a fact that various applications based on their unique properties have been developed, such as metalens focusing [ 29 , 30 , 31 ], holographic imaging [ 32 ], vortex light modulation [ 33 ], and abnormal deflectors [ 34 , 35 ].…”

Internal defect identification method of TSV 3D packaging based on built-in integrated sensor

“…2 SEM inspection method can effectively reveal defects inside the TSV 3D package structure and can locate and characterize small defects with feature sizes as low as 1 nm, but it need obtain cross-sections of the test objects and damages test samples, so it is often used as inspection tests. 11 The contactless electrical test method is mainly used to obtain the electrical signal of the defective TSV output by applying the corresponding excitation, and compares it with the intact TSV output and the difference is amplified, thus defect detection can be realized. 12 For further mastery the effects of short and open defects on the electrical of TSV channel, a noninvasive method of defects analysis on high-speed TSV channel is proposed.…”

Spot-scanning laser scattering system for defects detection of wafer surface

“…With semiconductors' critical dimension decreasing and chips becoming more integrated, defects on the wafer may lead to chip failure, and defect detection during the manufacturing process requires higher precision inspection tools 1 . Many deadly defects are formed during wafer fabrication, such as particles, scratches, pits, and residues, which require high-throughput and high-precision inspection methods to improve chip yields.…”