Kla Tencor Corporation

Kla Corporation

Nadav Carmel

Barak Bringoltz

Daniel Kandel

Amnon Manassen

Nuriel Amir

Tal Marciano

Tzahi Grunzweig

Ofer Zaharan

Michael E Adel

Ady Levy

Leonid Poslavsky

Yoel Feler

Ohad Bachar

John Charles Robinson

Mark Wagner

Alexander Svizher

Dana Klein

Evgeni Gurevich

Tal Itzkovich

Boris Efraty

Lilach Saltoun

Tal Yaziv

Noga Sella

Ido Adam

Tom Leviant

Vidya Ramanathan

Janay Camp

Oded Kaminsky

Amir Handelman

Ze'ev Lindenfeld

Victoria Naipak

Zeng Zhao

Moshe Cooper

Roee Sulimarski

Eltsafon Ashwal

Methods are provided for deriving a partially continuous dependency of metrology metric(s) on recipe parameter(s), analyzing the derived dependency, determining a metrology recipe according to the analysis, and conducting metrology measurement(s) according to the determined recipe. The dependency may be analyzed in form of a landscape such as a sensitivity landscape in which regions of low sensitivity and/or points or contours of low or zero inaccuracy are detected, analytically, numerically or experimentally, and used to configure parameters of measurement, hardware and targets to achieve high measurement accuracy. Process variation is analyzed in terms of its effects on the sensitivity landscape, and these effects are used to characterize the process variation further, to optimize the measurements and make the metrology both more robust to inaccuracy sources and more flexible with respect to different targets on the wafer and available measurement conditions.

Method of analyzing and utilizing landscapes to reduce or eliminate inaccuracy in overlay optical metrology

A metrology performance analysis system includes a metrology tool including one or more detectors and a controller communicatively coupled to the one or more detectors. The controller is configured to receive one or more metrology data sets associated with a metrology target from the metrology tool in which the one or more metrology data sets include one or more measured metrology metrics and the one or more measured metrology metrics indicate deviations from nominal values. The controller is further configured to determine relationships between the deviations from the nominal values and one or more selected semiconductor process variations, and determine one or more root causes of the deviations from the nominal values based on the relationships between values of the one or more metrology metrics and the one or more selected semiconductor process variations.

Feed forward of metrology data in a metrology system

Methods and metrology modules and tools are provided, which minimize an estimated overlay variation measure at misalignment vector values obtained from a derived functional form of an overlay linear response to non-periodic effects. Provided methods further quantifying target noise due to the non-periodic effects using multiple repeated overlay measurements of the target cells, calculating an ensemble of overlay measurements between the cells over the multiple measurement repeats and expressing the target noise as a statistical derivative of the calculated overlay measurements. Sub-ensembles may be selected to further characterize the target noise. Various outputs include optimized scanning patterns, target noise metrics and recipe and target optimization.

Decreasing inaccuracy due to non-periodic effects on scatterometric signals

Methods and algorithms are provided, as well as new metrics for misalignment of apertures with respect to the optical axis of a metrology system. The methods comprise aligning aperture(s) to an optical axis of a scatterometry metrology tool using correction term(s) derived by minimizing an overlay variation measure calculated with respect to overlay measurements of a periodic structure. These methods result in highly sensitive misalignment metrics, which may be used in calibration stages or on the fly to align the system's apertures, and enable reducing target size due to the resulting enhanced alignment accuracy.

Aperture alignment in scatterometry metrology systems

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Mevasseret-Zion, Israel

Nadav Carmel