US6651226B2
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Process control using three dimensional reconstruction metrology
Assignee: Avago Technologies International Sales Pte Ltd
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Filing: 2001-09-28
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Granted: 2003-11-18
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Expires: 2021-09-28
Abstract
Abstract In-line process control for 120 nm and 100 nm lithography using the installed scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipment base. A virtual three-dimensional representation of a photoresist feature is developed by applying a transform function to SEM intensity data representing the feature. The transform function correlates highly accurate height vector data, such as provided by a stylus nanoprofilometer or scatterometer, with the highly precise intensity data from the SEM. A multiple parameter characterization of at least one critical dimension of the virtual feature is compared to an acceptance pattern template, with the results being used to control a downstream etch process or an upstream lithography process. A multiple parameter characteristic of a three dimensional representation of the resulting post-etch final feature may be compared to device performance data to further refine the acceptance pattern template.
Inventors
- 👤 Erik Cho Houge
- 👤 John Martin McIntosh
- 👤 Larry E. Plew
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-06 06:11
CPC Classifications
G; G03; G03F; G03F7/00; G03F7/70; G03F7/70483; G03F7/70491; G03F7/70605; G03F7/70616; G03F7/70625
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 24
Claim 1
Independent Claim
62 words
A method of controlling a process, the method comprising: developing intensity information I(x,y) corresponding to a feature on a surface; developing data corresponding to a three dimensional representation of the feature from the intensity information; developing a multiple parameter characterization of at least one critical dimension of the three dimensional representation; and modifying a process in response to the multiple parameter characterization.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
62 words
A method of controlling a process, the method comprising: developing intensity information I(x,y) corresponding to a feature on a surface; developing data corresponding to a three dimensional representation of the feature from the intensity information; developing a multiple parameter characterization of at least one critical dimension of the three dimensional representation; and modifying a process in response to the multiple parameter characterization.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
23 words
The method of claim 1 , further comprising controlling a downstream process applied to the surface in response to the multiple parameter characterization.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 1 , further comprising controlling a process used to develop a second feature on a second surface in response to the multiple parameter characterization.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
47 words
The method of claim 1 , further comprising: developing a function P(x) representative of a localized area of the surface as a function of I(x,y); applying a transform function F(x) to the function P(x) to develop the data corresponding to the three dimensional representation of the feature.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
33 words
The method of claim 4 , further comprising developing the transform function F(x) as a correlation between the function P(x) and a height vector H(x) representing the surface topography of the localized area.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
35 words
The method of claim 5 , further comprising developing the transform function F(x) as a ratio of a multiple parameter characterization of the function P(x) and a multiple parameter characterization of the height vector H(x).
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method of claim 4 , wherein the step of developing a function P(x) comprises calculating P(x) as a weighted average intensity over the localized area across a plurality of scan lines.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
145 words
The method of claim 7 , further comprising calculating P(x) according to the equation: P ( x ) = ∑ l = 1 N I ( x , l ) * [ ∑ m = 1 N ( 1 1 + I ( x , l ) - I ( x , m ) A ) 3 N ] 3 ∑ l = 1 N [ ∑ m = 1 N ( 1 1 + I ( x , l ) - I ( x , m ) A ) 3 N ] 3 where P(x) is the reduced amplitude modulated waveform, I(x) is the intensity matrix, N is the number of lines used to calculate the localized waveform, and A is one-half of the total range of the data set.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
27 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the feature is a photoresist feature on a first semiconductor substrate, and wherein the process controlled is a lithography process.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
80 words
A method of controlling microelectronic device manufacturing comprising: developing a photoresist feature on a semiconductor substrate; using a scanning electron microscope to develop secondary electron signal intensity information I(x,y) corresponding to the photoresist feature; developing data corresponding to a three dimensional representation of the photoresist feature from the secondary electron signal intensity information; developing a multiple parameter characterization of at least one critical dimension of the three dimensional representation; and controlling a process in response to the multiple parameter characterization.
Claim 12
Independent Claim
80 words
A method of controlling microelectronic device manufacturing comprising: developing a photoresist feature on a semiconductor substrate; using a scanning electron microscope to develop secondary electron signal intensity information I(x,y) corresponding to the photoresist feature; developing data corresponding to a three dimensional representation of the photoresist feature from the secondary electron signal intensity information; developing a multiple parameter characterization of at least one critical dimension of the three dimensional representation; and controlling a process in response to the multiple parameter characterization.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
23 words
The method of claim 10 , further including controlling an etch process for the semiconductor wafer in response to the multiple parameter characterization.
Claim 14
Independent Claim
62 words
A method of controlling a semiconductor device manufacturing process comprising: developing intensity information I(x,y) corresponding to a feature on a surface; developing data corresponding to a three dimensional representation of the feature from the intensity information; developing a multiple parameter characterization of at least one critical dimension of the three dimensional representation; and comparing the multiple parameter characterization to a predetermined criterion.
Claim 15
Independent Claim
62 words
A method of controlling a semiconductor device manufacturing process comprising: developing intensity information I(x,y) corresponding to a feature on a surface; developing data corresponding to a three dimensional representation of the feature from the intensity information; developing a multiple parameter characterization of at least one critical dimension of the three dimensional representation; and comparing the multiple parameter characterization to a predetermined criterion.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
29 words
The method of claim 12 , further comprising characterizing one of shape and scale information for the feature as a function of critical dimension verses height of the feature.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
30 words
The method of claim 13 , further comprising: characterizing the one of shape and scale information as a graph; and identifying the predetermined criteria as an area on the graph.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
88 words
The method of claim 12 , further comprising: using a scanning electron microscope to develop secondary electron signal intensity information corresponding to a final feature resulting from an etching process; developing data corresponding to a three dimensional representation of the final feature from the secondary electron signal intensity information corresponding to the final feature; developing a multiple parameter characterization of at least one critical dimension of the three dimensional representation of the final feature; and correlating the multiple parameter characterization of the final feature to device performance data.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method of claim 12 , further comprising using the step of comparing to develop a template for controlling an etching process.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
30 words
The method of claim 12 , further comprising using the multiple parameter characterization to control a photoresist development process for developing a photoresist feature on a subsequently processed semiconductor wafer.
Claim 21
Independent Claim
76 words
An apparatus for controlling a process, the apparatus comprising: a means for producing intensity data IN(x,y) corresponding to a feature on a surface; a means for producing data corresponding to a three dimensional representation of the feature as a function of the intensity data I N (x,y); a means for developing a multiple parameter characterization of at least one critical dimension of the three dimensional representation; and a processing apparatus responsive to the multiple parameter characterization.
Claim 22
Independent Claim
76 words
An apparatus for controlling a process, the apparatus comprising: a means for producing intensity data IN(x,y) corresponding to a feature on a surface; a means for producing data corresponding to a three dimensional representation of the feature as a function of the intensity data I N (x,y); a means for developing a multiple parameter characterization of at least one critical dimension of the three dimensional representation; and a processing apparatus responsive to the multiple parameter characterization.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
26 words
The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the processing apparatus is responsive to the multiple parameter characterization to produce a second feature on a second surface.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
25 words
The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the processing apparatus is responsive to the multiple parameter characterization to further process the feature on the surface.
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