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.

Search Publications by: Richard M. Silver (Fed)

Search Title, Abstract, Conference, Citation, Keyword or Author
Displaying 76 - 100 of 154

Traceability: The Key to Nanomanufacturing

December 30, 2009
Author(s)
Ndubuisi George Orji, Ronald G. Dixson, Bryan Barnes, Richard M. Silver
Over the last few years key advances have been made in the area of nanomanufacturing and nanofabrication. Several researchers have produced nanostructures using either top-down or bottom-up techniques, while other groups have functionalized such structures

NIST SRM (Standard Reference Material) 2460/2461 Standard Bullets and Casings Project

October 13, 2009
Author(s)
Jun-Feng Song, Thomas Brian Renegar, Xiaoyu Alan Zheng, Robert M. Thompson, Richard M. Silver, Martin M. Ols, Ted T. Vorburger
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in collaboration with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) has developed the Standard Reference Material (SRM) 2460 Bullets and 2461 Cartridge Cases. NIST has also

Photomask metrology using a 193 nm scatterfield microscope

September 30, 2009
Author(s)
Richard Quintanilha, Bryan M. Barnes, Martin Y. Sohn, Lowell P. Howard, Richard M. Silver, James E. Potzick, Michael T. Stocker
The current photomask linewidth Standard Reference Material (SRM) supplied by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), SRM 2059, is the fifth generation of such standards for mask metrology. The calibration of this mask has been usually

193 nm Angle-Resolved Scatterfield Microscope for Semiconductor Metrology

August 24, 2009
Author(s)
Martin Y. Sohn, Richard Quintanilha, Bryan M. Barnes, Richard M. Silver
An angle-resolved scatterfield microscope (ARSM( feating 193 nm excimer laser light wa developed for measuring critical dimension (CD) and overlay of nanoscale targets as used in semiconductor metrology. The microscope is designed to have a wide and

Angle-resolved Optical Metrology using Multi-Technique Nested Uncertainties

August 15, 2009
Author(s)
Richard M. Silver, Bryan M. Barnes, Hui Zhou, Nien F. Zhang, Ronald G. Dixson
This paper introduces recent advances in scatterfield microscopy using improved normalization and fitting procedures. Reduced measurement uncertainties are obtained through the use of more accurate normalization procedures in combination with better

Developing an Uncertainty Analysis for Optical Scatterometry

August 3, 2009
Author(s)
Thomas A. Germer, Heather J. Patrick, Richard M. Silver, Benjamin Bunday
This article describes how an uncertainty analysis may be performed on a scatterometry measurement. A method is outlined for propagating uncertainties through a least-squares regression. The method includes the propagation of the measurement noise as well

Nanoscale Measurements with a Through-Focus Scanning-Optical-Microscope

July 15, 2009
Author(s)
Ravikiran Attota, Richard M. Silver, Thomas A. Germer
We present a novel optical technique that produces nanometer dimensional measurement sensitivity using a conventional optical microscope, by analyzing through-focus scanning-optical-microscope (TSOM) images obtained at different focus positions. In

Scatterfield Optical Imaging for sub-10 nm Dimensional Metrology

January 1, 2009
Author(s)
Richard M. Silver
Recent developments in optical microscopy promise to advance optical metrology and imaging to unprecedented levels through theoretical and experimental development of a new measurement technique called "scatterfield optical imaging". ". Current metrology

Through-focus Scanning and Scatterfield Optical Methods for Advanced Overlay Target Analysis

September 1, 2008
Author(s)
Ravikiran Attota, Michael T. Stocker, Richard M. Silver, Nathanael A. Heckert, Hui Zhou, Richard J. Kasica, Lei Chen, Ronald G. Dixson, Ndubuisi G. Orji, Bryan M. Barnes, Peter Lipscomb
In this paper we present overlay measurement techniques that use small overlay targets for advanced semiconductor applications. We employ two different optical methods to measure overlay using modified conventional optical microscope platforms. They are

Optical Critical Dimension Measurement of Silicon Grating Targets Using Back Focal Plane Scatterfield Microscopy

January 2, 2008
Author(s)
Heather J. Patrick, Ravikiran Attota, Bryan M. Barnes, Thomas A. Germer, Michael T. Stocker, Richard M. Silver, Michael R. Bishop
We demonstrate optical critical dimension measurement of lines in silicon grating targets using back focal plane scatterfield microscopy. In this technique, angle-resolved diffraction signatures are obtained from grating targets by imaging the back focal

Line Width Measurement Technique Using Through-Focus Optical Images

January 1, 2008
Author(s)
Ravikiran Attota, Richard M. Silver, Ronald G. Dixson
We present a detailed experimental study of a new through-focus technique to measure line width (CD) with nanometer sensitivity using a bright field optical microscope. This method relies on analyzing intensity gradients in optical images at different

Extending the Limits of Image-Based Optical Metrology

June 20, 2007
Author(s)
Richard M. Silver, Bryan M. Barnes, Ravikiran Attota, Jay S. Jun, Michael T. Stocker, Egon Marx, Heather J. Patrick
We have developed a set of techniques, referred to as scatterfield microscopy, in which the illumination is engineered in combination with appropriately designed metrology targets. Previously we reported results from samples with sub-50 nm sized features

Zero-Order Imaging of Device-Sized Overlay Targets Using Scatterfield Microscopy

March 1, 2007
Author(s)
Bryan M. Barnes, Lowell P. Howard, P Lipscomb, Richard M. Silver
Patterns of lines and trenches with nominal linewidths of 50 nm have been proposed for use as an overlay target appropriate for placement inside the patterned wafer die. The NIST Scatterfield Targets feature groupings of eight lines and/or trenches which

A Time-Resolved Kinetic Monte-Carlo Simulation Study On Si (111) Etching

January 1, 2007
Author(s)
Hui Zhou, Joseph Fu, Richard M. Silver
In this paper we have extended the Kinetic Monte-Carlo simulation method to study the etching dynamics of Si (111) surfaces in NH4F in a time-resolved basis. We have examined the step-flow dynamics of Si(111) etching using various simulation window sizes

Calibrated Overlay Wafer Standard

January 1, 2007
Author(s)
Michael T. Stocker, Richard M. Silver, Ravikiran Attota, Jay S. Jun
This document describes the physical characteristics of Standard Reference Material SRM 5000, provides guidance for its use in calibrating overlay (OL) tools, and gives information and precautions concerning its care and handling.Standard Reference

Fundamental Limits of Optical Critical Dimension Metrology: A Simulation Study

January 1, 2007
Author(s)
Richard M. Silver, Thomas A. Germer, Ravikiran Attota, Bryan M. Barnes, B Bunday, J Allgair, Egon Marx, Jay S. Jun
This paper is a comprehensive summary and analysis of a SEMATECH funded project to study the limits of optical critical dimension scatterometry. The project was focused on two primary elements: 1) the comparison, stability, and validity of industry models

Advanced Metrology Needs for Nanoelectronics Lithography

October 1, 2006
Author(s)
Stephen Knight, Ronald Dixon, Ronald L. Jones, Eric Lin, Ndubuisi G. Orji, Richard M. Silver, Andras Vladar, Wen-li Wu
The semiconductor industry has exploited productivity improvements through aggressive feature size reduction for over four decades. While enormous effort has been expended in developing the optical lithography tools to print ever finer features

Illumination Optimization for Optical Semiconductor Metrology

September 1, 2006
Author(s)
Bryan M. Barnes, L Howard, Richard M. Silver
Uniform sample illumination via K hler illumination, is achieved by establishing a pair of conjugate focal planes; a light source is focused onto the condenser lens aperture while the image of the field aperture is focused at the plane of the specimen

Damping mechanisms for precision applications in UHV environment

May 1, 2006
Author(s)
Sumanth B. Chikkamaranahalli, R. R. Vallance, Bradley N. Damazo, Richard M. Silver
Surface analysis techniques such as scanning probe microscopy (SPM) have undergone significant advances and are attractive for application to electron and optical devices such as micro lenses, vacuum tubes, electron tubes, etc. For surface stability

Koehler Illumination for High-Resolution Optical Metrology

March 1, 2006
Author(s)
Martin Y. Sohn, Bryan M. Barnes, Lowell P. Howard, Richard M. Silver, Ravikiran Attota, Michael T. Stocker
Accurate preparation of illumination is critical for high-resolution optical metrology applications such as line width and overlay measurements. To improve the detailed evaluation and alignment of the illumination optics, we have separated Koehler