193nm mask inspection challenges and approaches for 7nm/5nm technology and beyond

Shkalim, Ariel; Crider, Paul E.; Bal, Evgeny; Madmon, Ronen; Chereshnya, Alexander; Cohen, Oren; Dassa, Oded; Petel, Ori; Cohen, Boaz

doi:10.1117/12.2537511

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 1 publication

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“…In the semiconductor manufacturing process, wafer quality plays a critical role in the performance and reliability of the final chip. Defects formed at any one manufacturing process step lead to the formation of additional defects on wafers from subsequent manufacturing processes, with the adverse impact on overall yield potentially increasing exponentially [1][2][3]. Therefore, quality inspection equipment is critical for yield control and the improvement of wafer manufacturing.…”

Section: Instructionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Full-flow surface defect identification method based on spot scanning scattering for unpatterned wafer

Qu,

Zhou,

et al. 2024

J. Inst.

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As the critical dimensions of semiconductor manufacturing processes gradually decrease, the requirements for production yield management become increasingly stringent. During the manufacturing process, there are many different types of defects, such as micron-sized particles, millimeter-sized scratches, etc. Multiple categories and different scales bring great challenges to the detection and identification of defects. This paper provides a full-flow surface defect identification method based on spot scanning scattering for unpatterned wafers. First, an adaptive threshold method with dynamic kernel windows is used to perform line-by-line scanning inspection of the wafer Mercator image. The 3σ decision strategy is used to avoid the impact of defects on background estimation and to improve detection sensitivity. After morphological processing, connected domain analysis is performed to obtain the defect mask, and feature information such as the shape, size, and distribution of the defect is extracted. Finally, the defect identification is performed by rules based binning, and the identified defects are converted into wafer polar coordinate image for display and analysis. In the experiments, the proposed method is used to identify micron-scale particles as well as large scratches on the millimeter scale for SiC wafers. Relative to the actual production rate requirement of 20 wafers per hour, the analysis time for a 6-inch wafer is 24.4 s, which can meet the requirement. Meanwhile, the test results illustrate the effectiveness of the method. The proposed method is recommended for early-stage defect detection and identification of unpatterned wafers.

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Section: Instructionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Full-flow surface defect identification method based on spot scanning scattering for unpatterned wafer

Qu,

Zhou,

et al. 2024

J. Inst.

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Wafer Eccentricity Deviation Measurement Method Based on Line-Scanning Chromatic Confocal 3D Profiler

Zhou

et al. 2023

Photonics

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The wafer eccentricity deviation caused by misalignment between the center of the wafer and rotary table will lead to edge image distortion and quality degradation of the defect signals during automated inspection. However, wafer end jump and edge topography change will bring great challenges to the accurate measurement of micrometer deviations. A new wafer eccentricity deviation measurement method based on line-scanning chromatic confocal sensors (LSCCSs) is proposed. Firstly, the LSCCS with Z-axis submicron resolution used in the experiment acquires the 3D profile height of the wafer edge as the turntable rotates, and the edge distance is calculated at each rotation angle. Secondly, a robust Fourier-LAR fitting method is used to fit edge distance serial to reduce sensitivity to outliers. Finally, the wafer eccentricity deviation that is equal to the wafer center coordinate can be calculated using the wafer eccentricity deviation model. In the simulated experiment, the results show that the eccentricity deviation measurement accuracy was insensitivity to noise and reached the micron level. Additionally, the measurement uncertainty of eccentricity deviation coordinate Xw,Yw was (0.53 µm, 1.4 µm) in the actual data of the 12-inch wafers.

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193nm mask inspection challenges and approaches for 7nm/5nm technology and beyond

Cited by 2 publications

References 1 publication

Full-flow surface defect identification method based on spot scanning scattering for unpatterned wafer

Full-flow surface defect identification method based on spot scanning scattering for unpatterned wafer

Wafer Eccentricity Deviation Measurement Method Based on Line-Scanning Chromatic Confocal 3D Profiler

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