Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Boston University

Myungjun Lee

Wookrae Kim

Jaehwang Jung

Jinseob Kim

Seungbeom Park

Gwangsik Park

Jaehyeon Son

Taewan Kim

Yasuhiro Hidaka

Mitsunori Numata

Kyungwon Yun

Changhoon Choi

Sujin Lee

Seungwoo Lee

Sungmin Park

Sungho Jang

Jaeyong Lee

Chungsam Jun

Junho Shin

Sungyoon Ryu

Jinyong Kim

Inho Shin

Kwangsoo Kim

Taehyoung Lee

Yunje Cho

Daejun Park

Hao Wang

Hyejin Shin

Hojun Lee

Lei Tian

Myoungki Ahn

Jangwoon Sung

Changhyeong Yoon

Seoyeon Jeong

Yongju Jeon

Subong Shon

Yeny Yim

Seungryeol Oh

Minho Rim

Heejun Ahn

Jiabei Zhu

A substrate inspection apparatus includes a light irradiator including an objective lens and a plurality of optical fibers. The objective lens is configured to irradiate light to an illumination area on a semiconductor substrate having a plurality of circuit pattern layers, the plurality of optical fibers are adjacent a periphery of the objective lens and are configured to irradiate the light to a peripheral area adjacent the illumination area. A light generator is configured to generate the light. The light generator is configured to change an irradiation angle of the light to selectively irradiate the light to one or more of the objective lens and the plurality of optical fibers. A light analyzer is configured to obtain images of the circuit pattern layers from the light reflected from the illumination area and the peripheral area. The light analyzer is configured to model each of the circuit pattern layers of the semiconductor substrate to obtain image models and to measure an overlay between the circuit pattern layers through the images and the image models.

Substrate inspection apparatus and substrate inspection method

A semiconductor measurement device may include an illumination apparatus having a polarizer on a propagation path of light output from a light source; an optical assembly including an objective lens configured to allow light passing through the polarizer to be incident on a sample and a beam splitter configured to transmit light reflected from the sample to first and second sensors; and a controller. The controller may be configured to determine an alignment state of patterns in a first region of the sample using a first original image output by the first sensor and an alignment state of patterns in a second region of the sample using a second original image output by the second sensor. The first sensor includes a first image sensor and a self-interference generator in a path along which light is incident on the first image sensor. The second sensor includes a second image sensor.

Semiconductor measurement apparatus

A scanning electron microscope (SEM) device includes: an electron beam source configured to emit an electron beam; a lens unit disposed between the electron beam source and a stage configured to seat an object including structures having a pattern is seated, and including a scanning coil, the scanning coil configured to generate an electromagnetic field to provide a lens, and an astigmatism adjuster; and a control unit. The control unit is configured to change a working distance between the lens unit and the object to obtain a plurality of original images, obtain a pattern image, in which the structures appear, and a plurality of kernel images, in which a distribution of the electron beam on the object appears, from the plurality of original images, and control the astigmatism adjuster to adjust the focus and the astigmatism of the lens unit using feature values extracted from the plurality of kernel images.

Scanning electron microscope device, semiconductor manufacturing device, and method of controlling semiconductor manufacturing device

Provided is a pupil ellipsometry measurement apparatus configured to measure an object, the pupil ellipsometry measurement apparatus including a stage configured to support the object to be measured, a light source unit configured to generate and output light, an irradiation optical system configured to focus the light from the light source unit on the object, a first detector configured to detect an image of reflected light from the object on an imaging plane, a self-interference generator (SIG) configured to generate self-interference with respect to the reflected light, a second detector configured to detect a hologram image of interference light of the SIG on a pupil plane, and a processor configured to reconstruct reflectance information based on the hologram image, and measure the object.

Pupil ellipsometry measurement apparatus and method and method of fabricating semiconductor device using the pupil ellipsometry measurement method

A semiconductor measurement apparatus includes an illumination unit configured to provide illumination light including linearly polarized light beams having different wavelengths, an optical unit including an objective lens configured to allow the illumination light to be incident on a sample, the optical unit being configured to transmit reflection light generated when the illumination light is reflected from the sample, a self-interference generator configured to self-interfere the reflection light transmitted from the optical unit and transmit the reflection light to a first image sensor, for each wavelength, and a controller. The controller is configured to process a measurement image output by the image sensor to divide the measurement image into a first image representing an intensity ratio of a polarization component of the reflection light and a second image representing a phase difference of the polarization component of the reflection light, for each wavelength.

A low-cost digital holography microscope (DHM) that is capable of performing inspection at high speed while accurately inspecting an inspection object at high resolution, an inspection method using the DHM, and a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device by using the DHM are provided. The DHM includes: a light source configured to generate and output light; a beam splitter configured to cause the light to be incident on an inspection object and output reflected light from the inspection object; and a detector configured to detect the reflected light, wherein, when the reflected light includes interference light, the detector generates a hologram of the interference light, and wherein no lens is present in a path from the light source to the detector.

Digital holography microscope (DHM), and inspection method and semiconductor manufacturing method using the DHM

Provided is a holographic microscope including an input optical system configured to emit polarized input beam, a first beam splitter configured to emit an object beam by reflecting a portion of the polarized input beam, and emit a reference beam by transmitting a remaining portion of the polarized input beam, a reference optical system configured to separate the reference beam into a first reference beam and a second reference beam, a camera configured to receive the first reference beam and the second reference beam and the object beam that is reflected by an inspection object, the camera including a micro polarizer array, wherein a first polarization axis of the first reference beam is perpendicular to a second polarization axis of the second reference beam.

Holographic microscope and manufacturing method of semiconductor device using the same

Provided are a diffraction-based metrology apparatus having high measurement sensitivity, a diffraction-based metrology method capable of accurately performing measurement on a semiconductor device, and a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device using the metrology method. The diffraction-based metrology apparatus includes a light source that outputs a light beam, a stage on which an object is placed, a reflective optical element that irradiates the light beam onto the object through reflection, such that the light beam is incident on the object at an inclination angle, the inclination angle being an acute angle, a detector that detects a diffracted light beam that is based on the light beam reflected and diffracted by the object and a processor that measures a 3D pupil matrix for the diffracted light beam and analyze the object based on the 3D pupil matrix.

Metrology apparatus and method based on diffraction using oblique illumination and method of manufacturing semiconductor device using the metrology method

Provided is a through-focus image-based metrology device including an optical device, and a computing device configured to acquire at least one through-focus image of a target from the optical device, generate an intensity profile based on the acquired at least one through-focus image, and perform metrology on the target based on the generated intensity profile, wherein the optical device includes a stage on which the target is disposed, the stage being configured to move by one step in at least one direction based on control of the computing device, and to acquire the at least one through-focus image, an image sensor disposed on the stage, an objective lens disposed between the image sensor and the stage, the objective lens being configured to transmit reflected light from the target, and a light source configured to emit illumination light to the target through the objective lens.

Through-focus image-based metrology device, operation method thereof, and computing device for executing the operation

Provided is an imaging ellipsometry (IE)-based inspection method including selecting a mode from among a first mode of an IE-based inspection device having a first field of view (FOV) and a second mode of an IE-based inspection device having a second FOV, measuring an inspection target by the IE-based inspection device based on the selected mode, and determining whether the inspection target is normal based on a result of the measuring, wherein the measuring of the inspection target comprises simultaneously measuring patterns included in a plurality of cells provided in a region of the inspection target, the region corresponding to an FOV of the selected mode.

Imaging ellipsometry (IE)-based inspection method and method of fabricating semiconductor device by using IE-based inspection method

An imaging apparatus includes a light source configured to generate and output light, a stage having a measurement target thereon, a line-scan spectral imaging (SI) optical system configured to measure the measurement target using a first scale and to slopingly irradiate the light from the light source onto the measurement target in a line beam shape, divide light reflected by the measurement target, and perform imaging of the divided light, and an angle-resolved SI optical system configured to measure the measurement target at a second scale that is smaller than the first scale and configured to divide the light from the light source into monochromatic light, slopingly irradiate the monochromatic light onto the measurement target by using a reflective objective lens, and perform imaging of light reflected by the measurement target.

Multi-scale spectral imaging apparatuses and methods, and methods of manufacturing semiconductor devices by using the imaging methods

A super-resolution holographic microscope includes a light source configured to emit input light, a diffraction grating configured to split the input light into first diffracted light and second diffracted light, a mirror configured to reflect the first diffracted light, a wafer stage arranged on an optical path of the second diffracted light and on which a wafer is configured to be arranged, and a camera configured to receive the first diffracted light that is reflected by the mirror and the second diffracted light that is reflected by the wafer to generate a plurality of hologram images of the wafer.

Super-resolution holographic microscope

An inspection apparatus includes: a light source that generates and outputs light; a stage on which an inspection target is arranged; an irradiation optical system that irradiates light from the light source to the inspection target; a detector that receives the light diffracted from the inspection target and generates diffraction image; and a detector moving device configured to move the detector on a z-axis, which is an optical axis of the light, and an x-y plane perpendicular to the z-axis. Furthermore, while the detector moves on the x-y plane and the z-axis through the detector moving device, the detector generates a plurality of the diffraction images with different positions on the x-y plane and the z-axis with respect to the inspection target, and thus simultaneously implements phase retrieval and super resolution of diffraction images.

Inspection apparatus and method based on coherent diffraction imaging (CDI)

Growing community of inventors

Seongnam-si, South Korea

Myungjun Lee