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11 February 2015 Effects of wafer noise on the detection of 20-nm defects using optical volumetric inspection
Bryan M. Barnes, Francois Goasmat, Martin Y. Sohn, Hui Zhou, András E. Vladár, Richard M. Silver
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Journal of Micro/Nanolithography, MEMS, and MOEMS, Vol. 14, Issue 1, 014001 (February 2015). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JMM.14.1.014001
Abstract
Patterning imperfections in semiconductor device fabrication may either be noncritical [e.g., line edge roughness (LER)] or critical, such as defects that impact manufacturing yield. As the sizes of the pitches and linewidths decrease in lithography, detection of the optical scattering from killer defects may be obscured by the scattering from other variations, called wafer noise. Understanding and separating these optical signals are critical to reduce false positives and overlooked defects. The effects of wafer noise on defect detection are assessed using volumetric processing on both measurements and simulations with the SEMATECH 9-nm gate intentional defect array. Increases in LER in simulation lead to decreases in signal-to-noise ratios due to wafer noise. Measurement procedures illustrate the potential uses in manufacturing while illustrating challenges to be overcome for full implementation. Highly geometry-dependent, the ratio of wafer noise to defect signal should continue to be evaluated for new process architectures and production nodes.
CC BY: © The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.
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Bryan M. Barnes, Francois Goasmat, Martin Y. Sohn, Hui Zhou, András E. Vladár, and Richard M. Silver "Effects of wafer noise on the detection of 20-nm defects using optical volumetric inspection," Journal of Micro/Nanolithography, MEMS, and MOEMS 14(1), 014001 (11 February 2015). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JMM.14.1.014001
Published: 11 February 2015
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Cited by 9 scholarly publications.
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KEYWORDS
Signal to noise ratio
Semiconducting wafers
Line edge roughness
Wafer-level optics
Defect detection
Scattering
Scanning electron microscopy
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