Voltage Contrast Inspection Methodology for Inline Detection of Missing Spacer and Other Nonvisual Defects

Patterson, Oliver D.; Wu, Kevin; Mocuta, D.; Nafisi, Kourosh

doi:10.1109/tsm.2008.2001205

Cited by 14 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…With the SEM (scanning electron microscope) image observation, VC inspection is able to detect tiny defects nonvisual to optical inspection [2], furthermore, the under layer defect is possible to be found by the surface charging [3]. Some applications even use dedicated test structures [4] for VC inspection as a routine monitoring vehicle to sweep the line defects. The VC inspection also be used to verify NMOS leakage caused by broken intra-well isolation of the SRAM.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Methodology and Application of the Detection of Invisible Defect by Voltage Contrast Inspection

et al. 2014

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The study aimed at the detection of non-visual defects of poly gate CT leakage at dense logic area by voltage-contrast (VC) inspection. At the same time, some new steps after N-type plus (NP) source drain (S/D) implantation of front-end-of-the-line (FEOL) was proposed and compared to detect poly gate CT leakage at the dense logic area. The cause of t`he poly gate CT leakage was the extreme tiny poly footing which was too small to be detected by the optical system. The PG leakage was obviously impacted by poly etch process and the step height between active area (AA) and shallow trench isolation (STI). The poly gate CT leakage defects were solved by inline controlling to reduce the step height between AA and STI and optimizing poly etch process. Furthermore, the application extended the VC inspection from just middle-end-of-the-line to FEOL of semiconductor technology.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Methodology and Application of the Detection of Invisible Defect by Voltage Contrast Inspection

et al. 2014

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“…With the scanning electron microscope (SEM) image observation, VC inspection able to detect tiny defects nonvisual to optical inspection [3], furthermore, the under layer defect is possible to be found by the surface charging [4]. Some applications even use dedicated test structures [5] for VC inspection as a routine monitoring vehicle to sweep the line defects. Advanced semiconductor process line inclines to require more e-beam scans, especially for the early phase of technology development [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanism and Application of NMOS Leakage with Intra-Well Isolation Breakdown by Voltage Contrast Detection

Chen¹,

Fan²,

Lou³

et al. 2013

JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science

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“…Causes of bright VC defects include trench to neighboring cell (DT-RX) bridging or connection, trench to trench (DT-DT) bridging into the bulk substrate, and breaks in the trench dielectric which generally occur right below the buried oxide. While the literature contains many works describing the use of VC inspection for in-line detection of electrical fails in semiconductor processing [3][4][5][6][7][8][9], only one work to date discusses VC inspection of eDRAM. In this previous paper, special short loop wafers were used to debug the mask open step [10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early detection of electrical defects in deep trench capacitors using voltage contrast inspection

Donovan

Patterson

Chang

et al. 2013

ASMC 2013 SEMI Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Conference

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Improvement of learning cycle time and mean time to detect issues is integral to keeping up with the increasing pace needed in semiconductor technology development. Use of electron beam voltage contrast inspection as an early assessment of electrical defectivity of embedded dynamic random access memory in IBM's deep trench capacitor technology allows for detection of all major initial processing electrical defects months before conventional techniques. Product-like and specially designed on chip diagnostic structures are inspected as soon as active layer patterning and isolation is complete. This enables much earlier identification of electrical defectivity. Examples discussed include electrically open single connections, electrical short circuits to neighboring cells in an array, and cells that have short circuits to the silicon substrate. Physical failure analysis and correlation to other in-line measurement and electrical test signals were performed to verify the voltage contrast inspection results. Robust and reliable results enable regular use of this technique to assess electrical health of critical structures earlyin the process sequence on and to facilitate increased yield improvement learning cycles beyond what is otherwise possible.

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Voltage Contrast Inspection Methodology for Inline Detection of Missing Spacer and Other Nonvisual Defects

Cited by 14 publications

References 4 publications

Methodology and Application of the Detection of Invisible Defect by Voltage Contrast Inspection

Methodology and Application of the Detection of Invisible Defect by Voltage Contrast Inspection

Mechanism and Application of NMOS Leakage with Intra-Well Isolation Breakdown by Voltage Contrast Detection

Early detection of electrical defects in deep trench capacitors using voltage contrast inspection

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