Asml Netherlands B.v.

Asml Holding N.v.

Simon Gijsbert Josephus Mathijssen

Arie Jeffrey Den Boef

Patricius Aloysius Jacobus Tinnemans

Sander Bas Roobol

Kaustuve Bhattacharyya

Nan Lin

Justin Lloyd Kreuzer

Sebastianus Adrianus Goorden

Alessandro Polo

Simon Reinald Huisman

Stefan Michiel Witte

Marc Johannes Noot

Nitesh Pandey

Stefan Hunsche

Markus Gerardus Martinus Maria Van Kraaij

Ralph Brinkhof

Maikel Robert Goosen

Erik Willem Bogaart

Kjeld Sijbrand Eduard Eikema

Sjoerd Nicolaas Lambertus Donders

Martin Jacobus Johan Jak

Franciscus Godefridus Casper Bijnen

Willem Marie Julia Marcel Coene

Gerrit Johannes Nijmeijer

Duygu Akbulut

Sietse Thijmen Van Der Post

Petrus Wilhelmus Smorenburg

Mohammadreza Hajiahmadi

Gerrit Jacobus Hendrik Brussaard

Peter Danny Van Voorst

Krijn Frederik Bustraan

Niels Geypen

Timothy Dugan Davis

Sudhir Srivastava

Samee Ur Rehman

Won-Jae Jang

Jinmoo Byun

Vassili Demergis

Leendert Jan Karssemeijer

Gijsbert Simon Matthijs Jansen

Lars Christian Freisem

Maurits Van Der Schaar

Richard Johannes Franciscus Van Haren

Paul Christiaan Hinnen

Henricus Petrus Maria Pellemans

Haico Victor Kok

Armand Eugene Albert Koolen

Edo Maria Hulsebos

Bernd Geh

Henricus Johannes Lambertus Megens

Igor Matheus Petronella Aarts

Stefan Carolus Jacobus Antonius Keij

Zili Zhou

Scott Douglas Coston

Murat Bozkurt

Jin Lian

Bastiaan Onne Fagginger Auer

Olger Victor Zwier

Grzegorz Grzela

Peter David Engblom

Alberto Da Costa Assafrao

Bartolomeus Petrus Rijpers

Stefan Michael Bruno Bäumer

Manouk Rijpstra

Adrianus Johannes Hendrikus Schellekens

Narjes Javaheri

Janneke Ravensbergen

Jan-Willem Gemmink

Ralph Timotheus Huijgen

Ronan James Havelin

Farzad Farhadzadeh

Eric Anthony Janda

Stanley Drazkiewicz

J Christian Swindal

Cayetano Sánchez-Fabrés Cobaleda

Elahe Yeganegi Dastgerdi

Kjeld Eikema

Keng-Fu Chang

Hyun-Su Kim

Disclosed is a method of improving a measurement of a parameter of interest. The method comprises obtaining metrology data comprising a plurality of measured values of the parameter of interest, relating to one or more targets on a substrate, each measured value relating to a different measurement combination of a target of said one or more targets and a measurement condition used to measure that target and asymmetry metric data relating to asymmetry for said one or more targets. A respective relationship is determined for each of said measurement combinations relating a true value for the parameter of interest to the asymmetry metric data, based on an assumption that there is a common true value for the parameter of interest over said measurement combinations. These relationships are used to improve a measurement of the parameter of interest.

Metrology method and apparatus and computer program

A method for a metrology process, the method includes obtaining first measurement data relating to a first set of measurement conditions and determining a first measurement recipe based on the first measurement data. At least one performance indicator is determined from one or more components of the first measurement data obtained from a component analysis or statistical decomposition. Alternatively, at least one performance indicator is determined from a comparison of one or more first measurement values relating to the first measurement recipe and one or more second measurement values relating to a second measurement recipe, where second measurement recipe is different to the first measurement data and relates a second set of measurement conditions, the second set of measurement conditions being different to the first set of measurement conditions.

Metrology method and associated metrology and lithographic apparatuses

An illumination and detection apparatus for a metrology tool, and associated method. The apparatus includes an illumination arrangement operable to produce measurement illumination having a plurality of discrete wavelength bands and having a spectrum having no more than a single peak within each wavelength band. The detection arrangement includes a detection beamsplitter to split scattered radiation into a plurality of channels, each channel corresponding to a different one of the wavelength bands; and at least one detector for separate detection of each channel.

Illumination and detection apparatus for a metrology apparatus

A method includes receiving an image formed in a metrology apparatus wherein the image comprises at least the resulting effect of at least two diffraction orders, and processing the image wherein the processing comprises at least a filtering step, for example a Fourier filter. The process of applying a filter may be obtained also by placing an aperture in the detection branch of the metrology apparatus.

Method for overlay metrology and apparatus thereof

Methods and systems for determining information about a target structure are disclosed. In one arrangement, a value of an asymmetry indicator for the target structure is obtained. The value of the asymmetry indicator represents an amount of an overlay independent asymmetry in the target structure. An error in an initial overlay measurement performed on the target structure at a previous time is estimated. The estimation is performed using the obtained value of the asymmetry indicator and a relationship between values of the asymmetry indicator and overlay measurement errors caused at least partially by overlay independent asymmetries. An overlay in the target structure is determined using the initial overlay measurement and the estimated error.

Method and system for determining information about a target structure

A metrology method relating to measurement of a structure on a substrate, the structure being subject to one or more asymmetric deviation. The method includes obtaining at least one intensity asymmetry value relating to the one or more asymmetric deviations, wherein the at least one intensity asymmetry value includes a metric related to a difference or imbalance between the respective intensities or amplitudes of at least two diffraction orders of radiation diffracted by the structure; determining at least one phase offset value corresponding to the one or more asymmetric deviations based on the at least one intensity asymmetry value; and determining one or more measurement corrections for the one or more asymmetric deviations from the at least one phase offset value.

A method provides the steps of receiving an image from a metrology tool, determining individual units of said image and discriminating the units which provide accurate metrology values. The images are obtained by measuring the metrology target at multiple wavelengths. The discrimination between the units, when these units are pixels in said image, is based on calculating a degree of similarity between said units.

Metrology method

A method of inferring a value for at least one local uniformity metric relating to a product structure, the method including: obtaining intensity data including an intensity image relating to at least one diffraction order obtained from a measurement on a target; obtaining at least one intensity distribution from the intensity image; determining, from the at least one intensity distribution, an intensity indicator expressing a variation of either intensity over the at least one diffraction order, or a difference in intensity between two complimentary diffraction orders over the intensity image; and inferring the value for the at least one local uniformity metric from the intensity indicator.

Method for inferring a local uniformity metric

A metrology apparatus () includes a higher harmonic generation (HHG) radiation source for generating () EUV radiation. Operation of the HHG source is monitored using a wavefront sensor () which comprises an aperture array () and an image sensor (). A grating () disperses the radiation passing through each aperture so that the image detector captures positions and intensities of higher diffraction orders for different spectral components and different locations across the beam. In this way, the wavefront sensor can be arranged to measure a wavefront tilt for multiple harmonics at each location in said array. In one embodiment, the apertures are divided into two subsets (A) and (B), the gratings () of each subset having a different direction of dispersion. The spectrally resolved wavefront information () is used in feedback control () to stabilize operation of the HGG source, and/or to improve accuracy of metrology results.

Methods and apparatus for predicting performance of a measurement method, measurement method and apparatus

Disclosed is a metrology device () configured to produce measurement illumination comprising a plurality of illumination beams, each of said illumination beams being spatially incoherent or pseudo-spatially incoherent and comprising multiple pupil points in an illumination pupil of the metrology device. Each pupil point in each one of said plurality of illumination beams has a corresponding pupil point in at least one of the other illumination beams of said plurality of illumination beams thereby defining multiple sets of corresponding pupil points, and the pupil points of each set of corresponding pupil points are spatially coherent with respect to each other.

Metrology sensor for position metrology

A method to determine a patterning process parameter, the method comprising: for a target, calculating a first value for an intermediate parameter from data obtained by illuminating the target with radiation comprising a central wavelength; for the target, calculating a second value for the intermediate parameter from data obtained by illuminating the target with radiation comprising two different central wavelengths; and calculating a combined measurement for the patterning process parameter based on the first and second values for the intermediate parameter.

Method to determine a patterning process parameter

Disclosed is an inspection apparatus for use in lithography. It comprises a support for a substrate carrying a plurality of metrology targets; an optical system for illuminating the targets under predetermined illumination conditions and for detecting predetermined portions of radiation diffracted by the targets under the illumination conditions; a processor arranged to calculate from said detected portions of diffracted radiation a measurement of asymmetry for a specific target; and a controller for causing the optical system and processor to measure asymmetry in at least two of said targets which have different known components of positional offset between structures and smaller sub-structures within a layer on the substrate and calculate from the results of said asymmetry measurements a measurement of a performance parameter of the lithographic process for structures of said smaller size. Also disclosed are substrates provided with a plurality of novel metrology targets formed by a lithographic process.

Inspection apparatus and methods, substrates having metrology targets, lithographic system and device manufacturing method

A method of aligning a diffractive optical system, to be operated with an operating beam, comprises: aligning () the diffractive optical system using an alignment beam having a different wavelength range from the operating beam and using a diffractive optical element optimized () to diffract the alignment beam and the operating beam in the same (or a predetermined) direction. In an example, the alignment beam comprises infra-red (IR) radiation and the operating beam comprises soft X-ray (SXR) radiation. The diffractive optical element is optimized by providing it with a first periodic structure with a first pitch (pIR) and a second periodic structure with a second pitch (pSXR). After alignment, the vacuum system is pumped down () and in operation the SXR operating beam is generated () by a high harmonic generation (HHG) optical source pumped by the IR alignment beam' optical source.

Methods of aligning a diffractive optical system and diffracting beams, diffractive optical element and apparatus

A method of determining positions of marks, the marks comprising periodic structures, at least some of the structures comprising periodic sub-structures, the sub-structures having a smaller period than the structures, the marks formed with positional offsets between the sub-structures and structures, the positional offsets caused by a combination of both known and unknown components, the method comprising illuminating a plurality of the marks with radiation having different characteristics, detecting radiation diffracted by the marks using one or more detectors which produce output signals, discriminating between constituent parts of the signals, the discriminating based on a variation of the signals as a function of spatial positions of the marks on a substrate, selecting at least one of the constituent parts of the signals, and using the at least one selected constituent part, and information relating to differences between the known components, to calculate a corrected position of at least one mark.

Mark position determination method

Disclosed are a method, computer program and a metrology apparatus for measuring a process effect parameter relating to a manufacturing process for manufacturing integrated circuits on a substrate. The method comprises determining for a structure, a first quality metric value for a quality metric from a plurality of measurement values each relating to a different measurement condition while cancelling or mitigating for the effect of the process effect parameter on the plurality of measurement values and a second quality metric value for the quality metric from at least one measurement value relating to at least one measurement condition without cancelling or mitigating for the effect of the process effect parameter on the at least one measurement value. The process effect parameter value for the process effect parameter can then be calculated from the first quality metric value and the second quality metric value, for example by calculating their difference.

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Rosmalen, Netherlands

Simon Gijsbert Josephus Mathijssen