Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Enhancing 9 nm Node Dense Patterned Defect Optical Inspection using Polarization, Angle, and Focus

Published

Author(s)

Bryan M. Barnes, Francois R. Goasmat, Martin Y. Sohn, Hui Zhou, Abraham Arceo

Abstract

To measure the new SEMATECH 9 nm node Intentional Defect Array (IDA) and subsequent small, complex defects, a methodology has been used to exploit the rich information content generated when simulating or acquiring several images of sub-wavelength-sized defects through best focus. These images, which are xy planes, collected using polarized illumination are stacked according to focus position, z, and through interpolation, volumetric pixels (“voxels”) are formed sized approximately 40 nm per side. From the image data, an intensity can be assigned to each (x,y,z) position. These four-dimensional matrices are extensively filtered for defect detection using multi-dimensional intensity thresholding, nearest-neighbor criteria, continuity requirements, and other techniques standard to optical defect inspection. A simulation example with oblique angles of illumination is presented. Experimental results are shown from the NIST 193 nm Microscope using full-field illumination. Volumetric data analysis is compared against the processing of single 2-D images. Defect metrics for comparing planar and volumetric data are developed with the potential shown for a five-fold increase in defect sensitivity using volumetric data versus conventional imaging.
Proceedings Title
Proceedings of the SPIE
Volume
8681
Conference Dates
February 24-28, 2013
Conference Location
San Jose, CA
Conference Title
Metrology, Inspection, and Process Control for Microlithography XXVII

Keywords

Defect detection, Scatterfield optical microscopy, bright-field microscopy, dark-field microscopy, volumetric imaging

Citation

Barnes, B. , Goasmat, F. , Sohn, M. , Zhou, H. and Arceo, A. (2013), Enhancing 9 nm Node Dense Patterned Defect Optical Inspection using Polarization, Angle, and Focus, Proceedings of the SPIE, San Jose, CA, [online], https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2012250 (Accessed March 28, 2024)
Created April 10, 2013, Updated November 10, 2018