Asml Netherlands B.v.

Brion Technologies, Inc.

Guangqing Chen

Jen-Shiang Wang

Eric Richard Kent

Maurits Van Der Schaar

Shufeng Bai

Kaustuve Bhattacharyya

Yen-Wen Lu

Youping Zhang

Peter Hanzen Wardenier

Leonardus Henricus Marie Verstappen

Omer Abubaker Omer Adam

Panagiotis Pieter Bintevinos

Jan Wouter Bijlsma

Gertjan Zwartjes

Lotte Marloes Willems

Pieter Jacob Mathias Hendrik Knelissen

Paul Anthony Tuffy

Jun Ye

Yu Long Cao

Stefan Hunsche

Martin Ebert

Wei Liu

Stephen Peter Morgan

Justin Ghan

David Harold Whysong

Stephen Morgan

A method including performing a simulation to evaluate a plurality of metrology targets and/or a plurality of metrology recipes used to measure a metrology target, identifying one or more metrology targets and/or metrology recipes from the evaluated plurality of metrology targets and/or metrology recipes, receiving measurement data of the one or more identified metrology targets and/or metrology recipes, and using the measurement data to tune a metrology target parameter or metrology recipe parameter.

Method and apparatus for inspection and metrology

A method of metrology target design is described. The method includes determining a sensitivity of a parameter of a metrology target design to a perturbation of a process parameter for forming, or measuring the formation of, the metrology target, and determining a robustness of the metrology target design based on the sum of the sensitivity multiplied by the perturbation of at least one of the process parameters.

Method and apparatus for design of a metrology target

A method of metrology target design is described. The method includes providing a range or a plurality of values for design parameter of a metrology target and by a processor, selecting, by solving for and/or sampling within the range or the plurality of values for the design parameters, a plurality of metrology target designs having one or more design parameters meeting a constraint for a design parameter of the metrology target.

Methods and systems for automatically generating robust metrology targets which can accommodate a variety of lithography processes and process perturbations. Individual steps of an overall lithography process are modeled into a single process sequence to simulate the physical substrate processing. That process sequence drives the creation of a three-dimensional device geometry as a whole, rather than 'building' the device geometry element-by-element.

Process based metrology target design

A method of metrology target design is described. The method includes determining a sensitivity of a parameter for a metrology target design to an optical aberration, determining the parameter for a product design exposed using an optical system of a lithographic apparatus, and determining an impact on the parameter of the metrology target design based on the parameter for the product design and the product of the sensitivity and one or more of the respective aberrations of the optical system.

A system to, and a method to, select a metrology target for use on a substrate including performing a lithographic simulation for a plurality of points on a process window region for each proposed target, identifying a catastrophic error for any of the plurality of points for each proposed target, eliminating each target having a catastrophic error at any of the plurality of points, performing a metrology simulation to determine a parameter over the process window for each target not having a catastrophic error at any of the plurality of points, and using the one or more resulting determined simulated parameters to evaluate target quality.

A method for separately calibrating an optical model and a resist model of lithography process using information derived from in-situ aerial image measurements to improve the calibration of both the optical model and the resist model components of the lithography simulation model. Aerial images produced by an exposure tool are measured using an image sensor array loaded into the exposure tool. Multiple embodiments of measuring aerial image information and using the measured aerial image information to calibrate the optical model and the resist model are disclosed. The method of the invention creates more accurate and separable optical and resist models, leading to better predictability of the pattern transfer process from mask to wafer, more accurate verification of circuit patterns and how they will actually print in production, and more accurate model-based process control in the wafer fabrication facility.

Method for lithography model calibration

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Fremont, CA, United States of America

Guangqing Chen