Toward reliable and repeatable automated STEM-EDS metrology with high throughput

Zhenxin Zhong; Jason Donald; Gavin Dutrow; Justin Roller; Ozan Ugurlu; Martin Verheijen; Oleksii Bidiuk

doi:10.1117/12.2297403

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13 March 2018 Toward reliable and repeatable automated STEM-EDS metrology with high throughput

Zhenxin Zhong, Jason Donald, Gavin Dutrow, Justin Roller, Ozan Ugurlu, Martin Verheijen, Oleksii Bidiuk

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Proceedings Volume 10585, Metrology, Inspection, and Process Control for Microlithography XXXII; 105852X (2018) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2297403
Event: SPIE Advanced Lithography, 2018, San Jose, California, United States

Abstract

New materials and designs in complex 3D architectures in logic and memory devices have raised complexity in S/TEM metrology. In this paper, we report about a newly developed, automated, scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) based, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (STEM-EDS) metrology method that addresses these challenges. Different methodologies toward repeatable and efficient, automated STEM-EDS metrology with high throughput are presented: we introduce the best known auto-EDS acquisition and quantification methods for robust and reliable metrology and present how electron exposure dose impacts the EDS metrology reproducibility, either due to poor signalto-noise ratio (SNR) at low dose or due to sample modifications at high dose conditions. Finally, we discuss the limitations of the STEM-EDS metrology technique and propose strategies to optimize the process both in terms of throughput and metrology reliability.

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Zhenxin Zhong, Jason Donald, Gavin Dutrow, Justin Roller, Ozan Ugurlu, Martin Verheijen, and Oleksii Bidiuk "Toward reliable and repeatable automated STEM-EDS metrology with high throughput", Proc. SPIE 10585, Metrology, Inspection, and Process Control for Microlithography XXXII, 105852X (13 March 2018); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2297403

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