&lt;title&gt;Latent image exposure monitor using scatterometry&lt;/title&gt;

Milner, Lisa-Michelle; Hickman, K. C.; Wilson, Susan M.; Bishop, Kenneth P.; Naqvi, S. Sohail H.; McNeil, J. R.; Blain, Matthew G.; Draper, B.L.

doi:10.1117/12.59798

Cited by 6 publications

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“…Modeling has proven itself a valuable and accurate tool for predicting the printability of defects [25,26]. Modeling has also been used to understand metrology of lithographic structures [27][28][29][30] and continues to find new application in virtually every aspect of lithographic research. In fact, modeling has proven an indispensable tool for predicting future lithographic performance and evaluating the theoretical capabilities and limitations of extensions for optical lithography far into the future.…”

Section: A Research Toolmentioning

confidence: 98%

Thirty years of lithography simulation

Mack

2005

Optical Microlithography XVIII

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Thirty years ago Rick Dill and his team at IBM published the first account of lithography simulation -the accurate description of semiconductor optical lithography by mathematical equations. Since then, lithography simulation has grown dramatically in importance in four important areas: as a research tool, as a development tool, as a manufacturing tool, and as a learning tool. In this paper, the history of lithography simulations is traced from its roots to today's indispensable tools for lithographic technology development. Along the way, an attempt will be made to define the true value of lithography simulation to the semiconductor industry.

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Section: A Research Toolmentioning

confidence: 98%

Thirty years of lithography simulation

Mack

2005

Optical Microlithography XVIII

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“…Modeling has also been used to understand metrology of lithographic structures [34][35][36][37] and continues to find new application in virtually every aspect of lithographic research. In fact, modeling has proven an indispensable tool for predicting future lithographic performance and evaluating the theoretical capabilities and limitations of extensions for optical lithography far into the future.…”

Section: Research Toolmentioning

confidence: 99%

<title>Lithographic simulation: a review</title>

Mack

2001

SPIE Proceedings

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A review of the current state of the art in optical and electron beam lithography simulation is presented. Basic physical models are described and examples are given. In addition, rigorous electromagnetic simulation for mask topography is shown and the use of statistical modeling to predict feature size distributions in manufacturing is described. Finally, numerous examples of the use of lithography simulation and its impact on the semiconductor industry are offered.

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“…These diffraction efficiencies are then used in some optimization algorithm to finally calculate the unknown parameters of the grating. Earlier work on scatterometry has successfully demonstrated its usefulness as a process monitor in microlithography processes and for characterization of different types of gratings , 6 In this paper the results of using scatterometry for the linewidth and etch depth estimation of 0-order gratings are presented. Here we examined InP samples which were etched with a periodic structure of 0.2.tm pitch.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

<title>Toward sub-0.1-um CD measurements using scatterometry</title>

Minhas¹,

Prins²,

Naqvi³

et al. 1996

Metrology, Inspection, and Process Control for Microlithography X

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Scatterometry, defined as the angle resolved characterization of light scattered from a surface, is an attractive tool for the metrology of semiconductor devices. It is simple, rapid, non destructive, relatively inexpensive and can be used in-situ. This paper illustrates the use of scatterometry to characterize fine pitch gratings having linewidths 0. lj.m. These gratings diffract light only in the zeroth order as their pitch-to-wavelength ratio is much smaller than one, hence they are also known as 0-order gratings.Metrology of 0-order gratings brings forth new issues, chiefly (i) lack of diffraction sensitivity to variation in the grating parameters, and (ii) non-uniqueness of the "diffraction signatures" . We use the gratings in conical mounting to enhance the diffraction sensitivity and have circumvented the non-uniqueness issue in two ways: (i) limiting the parameter space of the search algorithm and (ii) using different incident field polarizations. We employ constrained optimization techniques to efficiently scan the parameter space.Our results agree well with cross-sectional SEM measurements and demonstrate the feasibility of scatterometry for these structures. We are also using shorter wavelengths for the metrology of 0-order gratings, and preliminary results using ?=442 nm demonstrate that the diffraction is more sensitive to the variation in grating linewidth and etch depth.Critical dimensions (CD's) of the current semiconductor devices are getting smaller, hence making the metrology of these structures more difficult and yet more important. Although SEM's are the defacto standard for the metrology of these devices, they suffer from a number of drawbacks, mainly among these is their precision, related to the lack of robust algorithm to extract the relevant dimensional information and their inability to be used in on-line processing. An attractive alternate optical metrology tool is scatterometry, which can be defined as the angle-resolved characterization of light scattered from a surface; for metrology purposes the surfaces to be characterized are gratings or device patterns that have periodic structure.Metrology of gratings using scatterometry is discussed in detail in references1' 2, and is briefly described here. Basically experimental data is taken on the grating to be characterized using a scatterometer, and a theoretical model is constructed to relate this experimental data to the unknown parameters of the grating being measured.Data from a scatterometer is the variation in diffraction efficiency as a function of angle of incidence in any given diffracted "order". This type of data is interchangeably called the "diffraction curve", "2-8 plot" or the scatter "signature". Figure 1 shows a typical scatter "signature" from a 0.8 J.tm pitch grating structure. For 0-order gratings, only the 0th order is available for measurement; all other orders are evanescent.The theoretical model consists of determining the diffraction efficiencies of the given grating using rigorous grating theory. These diffracti...

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<title>Latent image exposure monitor using scatterometry</title>

Cited by 6 publications

References 0 publications

Thirty years of lithography simulation

Thirty years of lithography simulation

<title>Lithographic simulation: a review</title>

<title>Toward sub-0.1-um CD measurements using scatterometry</title>

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