Kla Tencor Corporation

Kla Corporation

Oded Kaminsky

Yoel Feler

Amnon Manassen

Vladimir Levinski

Daniel Kandel

Nadav Gutman

Barak Bringoltz

Ohad Bachar

Nuriel Amir

Tal Marciano

Evgeni Gurevich

Boris Efraty

Tal Yaziv

Lilach Saltoun

Noga Sella

Ido Adam

Nadav Carmel

Tom Leviant

Ofer Zaharan

Amir Handelman

Moshe Cooper

Roee Sulimarski

Eltsafon Ashwal

Ze'ev Lindenfeld

Zeng Zhao

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

Focus metrology methods and modules are provided, which use aerial-images-based transformations to share measurement information derived from multiple targets and/or to design additional targets to specified compliant targets, which enable simple adjustment of focus targets to changing production conditions. Methods comprise positioning two or more focus targets in each wafer field, conducting focus measurements of the targets, transforming the focus measurements into a single set of results for each field, using a transformation between the targets that is based on the aerial images thereof, and deriving focus results from the single sets of results; and possibly designing the focus targets from specified targets using aerial image parameters of the specified targets.

Focus metrology and targets which utilize transformations based on aerial images of the targets

Growing community of inventors

Givat Shemuel, Israel

Oded Kaminsky