Modeling the Effect of Finite Size Gratings on Scatterometry Measurements

Published

February 25, 2008

Author(s)

Elizabeth Kenyon, Michael W. Cresswell, Heather Patrick, Thomas Germer

Abstract

The interpretation of scatterometry measurements generally assumes that the grating extends over an area large enough to intercept all the illumination provided by an incident beam.  However, in practice, the grat-ings used in scatterometry are relatively small.  Thus, the detected light also includes both that scattered by the grating as well as that from a region surrounding the grating because, generally, the incident beam illumi-nates both the grating and the surrounding region.  To model the effects of such real structures, simulations of the effective reflectance were performed whereby the reflection from the grating was considered to be the sum of the diffraction by the grating and the diffraction of the surrounding region, taking into account the beam profile.  To demonstrate the model, the illumination field was assumed to be Gaussian.  Results are shown for a specific target design consisting of a 50 µm square measured by normal incidence reflectometry. Significant errors occur when the incident profile has wings that fall outside of the profile and when the scat-tered light is partially apertured.

Proceedings Title

Proceedings of SPIE Advanced Lithography

Conference Dates

February 24-29, 2008

Conference Location

San Jose, CA, USA

Conference Title

SPIE Advanced Lithography

Pub Type

Conferences

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Citation

Kenyon, E. , Cresswell, M. , Patrick, H. and Germer, T. (2008), Modeling the Effect of Finite Size Gratings on Scatterometry Measurements, Proceedings of SPIE Advanced Lithography, San Jose, CA, USA, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=32956 (Accessed October 10, 2025)