Globalfoundries Inc.

Parul Dhagat

Timothy A Brunner

Dmitry A Vengertsev

Ananthan Raghunathan

Shahrukh Akbar Khan

Sunit S Mahajan

Anne C Friedman

Vikas Sachan

In the methods and systems, optical images of inspection care areas on a semiconductor wafer are acquired and analyzed to detect defects. However, during this analysis, the same threshold setting is not used for all inspection care areas. Instead, care areas are grouped into different care area groups, based on different design layouts and properties. Each group is associated with a corresponding threshold setting that is optimal for detecting defects in the inspection care areas belonging to that group. The assignment of the care areas to the different groups and the association of the different threshold settings with the different groups are noted in an index. This index is accessible during the analysis and used to ensure that each of the inspection care areas in a specific care area group is analyzed based on a corresponding threshold setting that is optimal for that specific care area group.

Semiconductor wafer inspection using care area group-specific threshold settings for detecting defects

A method for preventing buckling in a substrate using a tensile hard mask is provided. The method may include forming a mask over a substrate, the hard mask including a first area having a pattern for forming a plurality of openings and an adjacent second area free of openings, and the hard mask includes a tensile stress therein. The hard mask may be used to form the plurality of openings in the substrate. Partially eroding the hard mask leaves the substrate with the plurality of openings therein and a substantially planar surface, having diminished buckling.

Using tensile mask to minimize buckling in substrate

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Clifton Park, NY, United States of America

Parul Dhagat