Mr. John R. Swyers Profile

John R. Swyers

District Sales Manager at Applied Materials Inc

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Publications (4)

Proceedings Article | 5 April 2007 Paper

The coming of age of tilt CD-SEM

B. Bunday, J. Allgair, E. Solecky, C. Archie, N. Orji, J. Beach, O. Adan, R. Peltinov, M. Bar-zvi, J. Swyers

Proceedings Volume 6518, 65181S (2007) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.714214

KEYWORDS: Photoresist materials, Semiconducting wafers, Metrology, Critical dimension metrology, Scanning electron microscopy, Scanners, Lithography, Process control, Calibration

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The need for 3D metrology is becoming more urgent to address critical gaps in metrology for both lithographic and etch processes. Current generation lithographic processing (ArF source, where λ=193 nm) sometimes results in photoresist lines with re-entrant profiles or T-topping, as do many etch processes. A re-entrant profile misleads top-down metrology into reading the critical dimension (CD) as too large. Recent advances in gate process technology also raise challenges to traditional top-down metrology. One such example is the FinFET, which is truly a 3D device with 3D metrology needs. The ability to measure the bottom width of a profile is crucial for process control. Recently, tilt-beam critical dimension-scanning electron microscopy (CD-SEM) applications have been developed to measure the bottom CD of such features, using the tilted-view to "see" the bottom, avoiding the feature's larger top. This is an important achievement, as the bottom of a profile is the main feature of interest in many processes. Estimation of sidewall angle (SWA) is also important. For several years, tilt-beam CD-SEM has been an available technique for this measurement, with limited adoption by the litho-metrology community. However, in this paper we will explore another method to use the tilt feature to measure average sidewall angle, based on edgewidth measurement and the assumption of basic trapezoidal profile and known height and combined with the ability to sample multiple-features. While it will not provide exact profile shape, this technique can be quite useful in providing average profile information and will definitely exhibit good throughput. Samples used will be photoresist and etched FinFET structures to measure sidewall angles. Correlations of the results to a traceable CD-atomic force microscopy (AFM) reference measurement system are provided. Conclusions will show preliminary findings of the readiness of tilt-beam CD-SEM for measuring profile and, by extension, the status of measuring 3D structures such as FinFETs, and using CD-SEM as a direct control of lithographic tooling for T-topped photoresist profiles.

Proceedings Article | 5 April 2007 Paper

SEM metrology for advanced lithographies

Benjamin Bunday, John Allgair, Bryan Rice, Jeff Byers, Yohanan Avitan, Ram Peltinov, Maayan Bar-zvi, Ofer Adan, John Swyers, Roni Shneck

Proceedings Volume 6518, 65182B (2007) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.714203

KEYWORDS: Lithography, Photoresist materials, Metrology, Deep ultraviolet, Extreme ultraviolet lithography, Extreme ultraviolet, Scanning electron microscopy, 193nm lithography, Semiconducting wafers, Scanners

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Proceedings Article | 2 June 2003 Paper

Quantitative profile-shape measurement study on a CD-SEM with application to etch-bias control and several different CMOS features

Benjamin Bunday, Michael Bishop, John Swyers, Kevin Lensing

Proceedings Volume 5038, (2003) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.485016

KEYWORDS: Semiconducting wafers, Etching, Calibration, Critical dimension metrology, Deep ultraviolet, Process control, Scanning electron microscopy, Lithography, Photoresist processing, Reticles

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One goal of CD metrology is to monitor lithographic process control and how it relates to post-etch results. At present, in-fab process control for this purpose is achieved through top-down CD measurements. To acquire profile information requires destructive cross-section SEM measurements or time-consuming AFM measurements. To find height and profile information about a resist or etched structure directly on a CD-SEM, techniques using the combination of in-column beam tilt and stereographic imaging have been developed, implemented and improved on the Applied Materials NanoSEM-3D. This work is an extension of results previously published, although the tool used is greatly improved and the target feature stacks more thorough. The column of the NanoSEM-3D is designed to be able to electronically tilt the incident beam at small angles as it approaches the sample, through bending the beam within the column. Two images can be captured of the sidewall of the feature target, one at a smaller tilt angle and one at a larger tilt angle. Through matching common features between these two images, a reconstructed profile can be mathematically generated. A feature height and sidewall angle can be calculated, and general shape information such as top-rounding, footing and undercutting can also be displayed. To benchmark the effectiveness of this new technique, an experiment has been conducted to quantify the repeatability and reproducibility of height and sidewall angle measurements of lines of resist-on-poly and the resulting etched-poly lines, and correlate these to measurements of the these same profiles using XSEM to determine the accuracy of the technique. This study will span a reasonable lithographic process window. We hope to demonstrate the necessary precision and accuracy capability to non-destructively replace some cross-section work. In applying these techniques to a common etch bias problem, we also hope to demonstrate a strong correlation which can be used to directly predict post-etch behavior and serve as a model for other etch processes, work with which XSEM cross-sections have typically been used until now. The profile measurement technique is also applied to other CMOS features such as etched STI trench, resist and etched contact holes, and resist and etched damascene trenches and vias, with calculated tool precisions for feature height and sidewall angle.

Proceedings Article | 16 July 2002 Paper

Quantitative profile-shape measurement study on a CD-SEM with application to etch-bias control

Benjamin Bunday, Michael Bishop, Marylyn Bennett, John Swyers, Zipora Haberman-Golan

Proceedings Volume 4689, (2002) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.473452

KEYWORDS: Semiconducting wafers, Calibration, Etching, Critical dimension metrology, Scanning electron microscopy, Lithography, Line edge roughness, Cadmium, Error analysis, Process control

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