Kla Tencor Corporation

Therma-wave, Inc.

Kla Corporation

Lawrence D Rotter

David Y Wang

Andrei V Shchegrov

Gregory Brady

Derrick A Shaughnessy

Muzammil A Arain

Klaus Flock

Kevin A Peterlinz

Andrei Veldman

Johannes D De Veer

Amnon Manassen

Andrew V Hill

Daniel Kandel

Shankar Krishnan

Alexander Svizher

Mark Ghinovker

Ilya Bezel

Anatoly Shchemelinin

Jeffrey Thomas Fanton

Ohad Bachar

Avi Abramov

Ilan Sela

Moshe Markowitz

Yaron Ish-Shalom

Jeffrey E McAninch

James Andrew Allen

Catalin Filip

Oleg Tsibulevsky

Maxim Khokhlov

Oleg Shulepov

Anatoly A Vasiliev

Vladimir Levinski

Joel L Seligson

David M Aikens

Guorong Vera Zhuang

David S Wang

James Lee Hendrix

Joel Ng

Mark Senko

Anatoly Vasiliev

James Allen

Anatoly Shcemelinin

The system includes a modulatable illumination source configured to illuminate a surface of a sample disposed on a sample stage, a detector configured to detect illumination emanating from a surface of the sample, illumination optics configured to direct illumination from the modulatable illumination source to the surface of the sample, collection optics configured to direct illumination from the surface of the sample to the detector, and a modulation control system communicatively coupled to the modulatable illumination source, wherein the modulation control system is configured to modulate a drive current of the modulatable illumination source at a selected modulation frequency suitable for generating illumination having a selected coherence feature length. In addition, the present invention includes the time-sequential interleaving of outputs of multiple light sources to generate periodic pulse trains for use in multi-wavelength time-sequential optical metrology.

Optical metrology tool equipped with modulated illumination sources

A system for providing illumination to a measurement head for optical metrology is configured to combine illumination beams from a plurality of illumination sources to deliver illumination at one or more selected wavelengths to the measurement head. The intensity and/or spatial coherence of illumination delivered to the measurement head is controlled. Illumination at one or more selected wavelengths is delivered from a broadband illumination source configured for providing illumination at a continuous range of wavelengths.

Systems for providing illumination in optical metrology

A rotatable compensator configured to transmit non-collimated light over a broad range of wavelengths, including ultraviolet, with a high degree of retardation uniformity across the aperture is presented. In one embodiment, a rotatable compensator includes a stack of four individual plates in optical contact. The two thin plates in the middle of the stack are made from a birefringent material and are arranged to form a compound, zeroth order bi-plate. The remaining two plates are relatively thick and are made from an optically isotropic material. These plates are disposed on either end of the compound, zeroth order bi-plate. The low order plates minimize the sensitivity of retardation across the aperture to non-collimated light. Materials are selected to ensure transmission of ultraviolet light. The optically isotropic end plates minimize coherence effects induced at the optical interfaces of the thin plates.

Broadband and wide field angle compensator

The disclosure is directed to systems for providing illumination to a measurement head for optical metrology. In some embodiments of the disclosure, illumination beams from a plurality of illumination sources are combined to deliver illumination at one or more selected wavelengths to the measurement head. In some embodiments of the disclosure, intensity and/or spatial coherence of illumination delivered to the measurement head is controlled. In some embodiments of the disclosure, illumination at one or more selected wavelengths is delivered from a broadband illumination source configured for providing illumination at a continuous range of wavelengths.

The present invention may include a modulatable illumination source configured to illuminate a surface of a sample disposed on a sample stage, a detector configured to detect illumination emanating from a surface of the sample, illumination optics configured to direct illumination from the modulatable illumination source to the surface of the sample, collection optics configured to direct illumination from the surface of the sample to the detector, and a modulation control system communicatively coupled to the modulatable illumination source, wherein the modulation control system is configured to modulate a drive current of the modulatable illumination source at a selected modulation frequency suitable for generating illumination having a selected coherence feature length. In addition, the present invention includes the time-sequential interleaving of outputs of multiple light sources to generate periodic pulses trains for use in multi-wavelength time-sequential optical metrology.

An apparatus includes (i) a bright light source for providing an illumination beam at multiple wavelengths selectable with a range from a deep ultraviolet wavelength to an infrared wavelength, (ii) illumination optics for directing the illumination beam towards a sample at selectable sets of angles of incidence (AOI's) or azimuth angles (AZ's) and polarization states to provide spectroscopic ellipsometry, wherein the illumination optics include an apodizer for controlling a spot size of the illumination beam on the sample at each of the selectable AOI/AZ sets, (iii) collection optics for directing an output beam from the sample in response to the illumination beam at each of the selectable AOI/AZ sets and polarization states towards a detector that generates an output signal or image based on the output beam, and (v) a controller for characterizing a feature of the sample based on the output signal or image.

Multiple angles of incidence semiconductor metrology systems and methods

The present invention may include loading a diagnostic sample onto a sample stage, focusing light from an illumination source disposed on a multi-axis stage onto the diagnostic sample, collecting a portion of light reflected from a surface of the diagnostic sample utilizing a detector, wherein the illumination source and the detector are optically direct-coupled via an optical system, acquiring a set of diagnostic parameters indicative of illumination source position drift from the diagnostic sample, determining a magnitude of the illumination source position drift by comparing the acquired set of diagnostic parameters to an initial set of parameters obtained from the diagnostic sample at a previously measured alignment condition, determining a direction of the illumination source position drift; and providing illumination source position adjustment parameters configured to correct the determined magnitude and direction of the illumination source position drift to the multi-axis actuation control system of the multi-axis stage.

Light source tracking in optical metrology system

Systems and methods for discrete polarization scatterometry are provided.

Discrete polarization scatterometry

A method for optically inspecting a specimen by directing a probe beam onto the specimen at varying angle of incidence and azimuth angle, thereby producing a reflected probe beam, gathering the reflected probe beam, separating the reflected probe beam as a function of wavelength, adding astigmatism to separate the reflected probe beam as a function of at least one of the angle of incidence and the azimuth angle, and evaluating the specimen based at least on changes in the reflected probe beam as a function of wavelength of the reflected probe beam and at least one of the angle of incidence and the azimuth angle.

Angle-resolved spectroscopic instrument

A device and methods for performing a photothermal measurement and relaxation compensation of a sample are disclosed. The device may include a probe beam source, a pump beam source, a sample, and a detector array. A method may include adjusting an intensity modulated pump beam power, adjusting a probe beam power to increase a response measurement location temperature and increase a modulated optical reflectance signal, directing the intensity modulated pump beam and the probe beam along a measurement path to a response measurement location on a sample for periodically exciting a region on the sample, detecting a reflected portion of the probe beam, and calculating an implantation dose.

System and method for performing photothermal measurements and relaxation compensation

The subject invention relates to a broadband optical metrology system that segregates the broadband radiation into multiple sub-bands to improve overall performance. Each sub-band includes only a fraction of the original bandwidth. The optical path&#x2014;the light path that connects the illuminator, the sample and the detector&#x2014;of each sub-band includes a unique sub-band optical system designed to optimize the performance over the spectral range spanned by the sub-band radiation. All of the sub-band optical systems are arranged to provide small-spot illumination at the same measurement position. Optional purging of the individual sub-band optical paths further improves performance.

Measurement system with separate optimized beam paths

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Pleasanton, CA, United States of America

Lawrence D Rotter