Efficient Detection and Size Determination of Crystal Originated “Particles” (COPs) on Silicon Wafer Surface Using Optical Scattering Technique Integrated to an Atomic Force Microscope

Lee, Wah-Pheng; Yow, H. K.; Tou, Teck Yong

doi:10.1109/tsm.2004.831531

Cited by 7 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…The exact positions of these selected COPs were identified by using an inhouse designed defect detection system ͑DDS͒. 24 The DDS allows effective localization of the COPs selected for detailed surface characterization by AFM and FE-SEM within a reasonable time frame. Subsequently, one of the three wafers was randomly selected for detailed COP shape and size analysis by DDS, AFM, and FE-SEM using the same coordinate system.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of Crystal-Originated Particles in Silicon Nitride Doped, CZ-Grown Silicon Wafers

Lee

Yow

Tou

2006

J. Electrochem. Soc.

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Grown-in crystal-originated particles ͑COPs͒ on the surface of silicon nitride-doped Czochralski ͑CZ͒-grown silicon wafers were characterized using atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. These nanometer-scale COPs are categorized into kite-shaped, parallelepiped-plate and needle-shaped COPs, respectively, with unique features distinctively different from the octahedral voids commonly found in conventional CZ-grown silicon wafers. Based on the experimental data obtained, it is postulated that nitrogen dopants in the silicon crystals could influence the formation of these COPs with different morphologies and sizes. This may be supported by a simple analysis of the mapping distribution of COPs on the nitride-doped CZ-grown silicon wafer, which reveals that the densities of the smaller-size parallelepiped-plate and needle-shaped COPs are negligible at the center of the silicon wafer but increase to a significant proportion comparable to that of the kite-shaped COPs at the outer edges of the silicon wafer along the radial directions. These observations are thought to correlate well with the presence of nitrogen dopants and the radial concentrations of the excess free vacancy.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of Crystal-Originated Particles in Silicon Nitride Doped, CZ-Grown Silicon Wafers

Lee

Yow

Tou

2006

J. Electrochem. Soc.

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Section: Surface Defects On Polished and Epitaxial Wafersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Laser and wafer movements are designed to cover the whole extended wafer surface, associating the coordinates of each single detected scattering event. [ 4 ] Size calibration is performed using polystyrene lattice spheres (PLS) of known sizes deposited onto silicon wafers. Certified sets are available on the market but it is well known that, in most cases, defects on the silicon wafer surface have a variety of morphologies whether they are residual particles or crystallographic defects.…”

Section: Surface Defects On Polished and Epitaxial Wafersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nano−Micro Characterization of Defects on Silicon Surfaces: An Industrial Perspective of Metrology Challenges

Borionetti

Sanna

2021

Physica Status Solidi (a)

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The electronic device industry is known to have been driven since its early stages by a continuous technological effort of miniaturization because of the dual need of manufacturing cost reduction through integration and offers to the user market of smaller electronic applications, more efficient, versatile, and differentiable. Silicon wafer manufacturers have been forced to provide larger size silicon wafers. 300 mm diameter is nowadays covering more than 50% of the total market, with dimension and density of residual defects moving from micrometers to nanometers, from ppt to ppq, or even less. In this context, the proper choice of measurement technique and setup which can guarantee measurement reliability to detect a given defect and provide information of its distribution inside the wafer is mandatory. It has to cope the need to control material quality in a range more frequently close to the measurement detection limit and improve the associated manufacturing process capabilities. Herein, a few examples in the area of crystallographic/morphological defects and chemical impurities on silicon wafers are proposed, reviewing the defect analysis approach inside a manufacturing environment. The discussion also involves the final product certification data reporting which tends to convey in a very synthetic format the whole measurement and control process.

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“…On the other hand, Wafer Inspection System ͑WIS͒ 15 is very fast for particle detection over the whole surface area of a wafer with particle sizes as small as 0.1 m in diameter, but this method has no capability in performing elemental composition analysis of the detected particles. Similarly, atomic force microscopy 15 can detect particles with sizes as small as 0.01 m in diameter, but the detection time required is impracticably long, with no capability in performing elemental composition analysis of the particles as well.…”

Section: Electrochemical and Solid-state Lettersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the other hand, the optimum combination of i and s for the detection of the scattered light from surface pits such as COPs are oblique incident angle, with the collection angle positioned at surface normal. 11,15 In this work, the design of the PLS design is limited to the use of oblique angle positions for both the laser incident angle i and the scattered light collection angle s because the TOF-SIMS system used has a reflectron positioned normal to the sample surface as shown in Fig. 1.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Nondestructive Localization of Surface Particles for Elemental Compositional Analysis by TOF-SIMS

Lee¹,

Koh²,

Yow³

et al. 2005

Electrochem. Solid-State Lett.

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A surface particle localization system based on oblique angle dark field optical scattering has been incorporated into time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry. ͑TOF-SIMS͒ In this design, oblique incident laser light would be scattered to all directions by surface particles on silicon wafer and be collected at oblique angle to determine the x-y coordinate of the particle detected. This fast and nondestructive technique is an effective alternative to the standard method for imaging and localization of surface particles using primary ion bombardment by TOF-SIMS which might result in the alteration or loss of physiochemical information from the surface particles.Silicon wafers with surface areas virtually free of external contaminants are of utmost importance for achieving acceptable process yield in ultralarge scale integrated circuit fabrication. Effective localization of surface particles on silicon wafers for accurate elemental composition analysis 1,2 could provide essential information for identifying the source of contamination and thus allow preventive control measures to be implemented before process yield is significantly compromised during manufacturing, wafer storage and handling processes. In this respect, time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry ͑TOF-SIMS͒ has emerged as one useful analytical tool for the elemental composition diagnosis of surface particles due to the high transmission and high mass resolution capability for ions with different masses simultaneously. 3 In a typical surface particles analysis using TOF-SIMS, secondary electrons generated 4 from material surface by the bombardment of high energy primary ions are collected to indirectly localize surface particles during timeconsuming and exhaustive scanning process on selected wafer surface area. Once the particles of interest are located, detailed elemental composition analysis by TOF-SIMS is carried out. However, the bombardment of solid surface by high energy primary ions could remove material from solid surface 5 and thus may result in inaccurate acquisition or alteration of physiochemical information from the surface particles.An optical microscope coupled with a charge coupled device ͑CCD͒ camera and an external light source for illumination are usually attached to TOF-SIMS for alignment of wafers on x-y stage with respect to the center position of the ion gun. This simple optical microscopy setup could provide fast and nondestructive localization of surface particles with size larger than the optical resolution of the microscope prior to the primary ion bombardment onto the wafer surface in TOF-SIMS. However, optical microscopy is limited by the resolving power of the microscope 6 and thus a limited magnification with sufficient depth of field. 7 The performance requirement for the optical microscopy system might even be more stringent if the surface particles are optically transparent.Modern TOF-SIMS system can analyze microareas and generate surface images with a high lateral resolution of 0.1 m or less 8-10 by using ...

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Efficient Detection and Size Determination of Crystal Originated “Particles” (COPs) on Silicon Wafer Surface Using Optical Scattering Technique Integrated to an Atomic Force Microscope

Cited by 7 publications

References 13 publications

Characterization of Crystal-Originated Particles in Silicon Nitride Doped, CZ-Grown Silicon Wafers

Characterization of Crystal-Originated Particles in Silicon Nitride Doped, CZ-Grown Silicon Wafers

Nano−Micro Characterization of Defects on Silicon Surfaces: An Industrial Perspective of Metrology Challenges

Nondestructive Localization of Surface Particles for Elemental Compositional Analysis by TOF-SIMS

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