Asml Netherlands B.v.

Victor Emanuel Calado

Richard Johannes Franciscus Van Haren

Xing Lan Liu

Leon Paul Van Dijk

Maurits Van Der Schaar

Henricus Wilhelmus Maria Van Buel

Arie Jeffrey Den Boef

Patricius Aloysius Jacobus Tinnemans

Everhardus Cornelis Mos

Kaustuve Bhattacharyya

Patrick Warnaar

Martin Jacobus Johan Jak

Hans Van Der Laan

Franciscus Godefridus Casper Bijnen

Hendrik Jan Hidde Smilde

Alexander Ypma

Youping Zhang

Sebastianus Adrianus Goorden

Armand Eugene Albert Koolen

Hakki Ergün Cekli

Marinus Jochemsen

Roy Werkman

Jochem Sebastiaan Wildenberg

Te-Chih Huang

Edo Maria Hulsebos

Irina Lyulina

Jin Lian

Olger Victor Zwier

Grzegorz Grzela

Erik Jensen

Erik Johan Koop

Loek Johannes Petrus Verhees

Hilko Dirk Bos

Bijoy Rajasekharan

Si-Han Zeng

Adam Jan Urbanczyk

Hui Quan Lim

S M Masudur Rahman Al Arif

Disclosed is a substrate and associated patterning device. The substrate comprises at least one target arrangement suitable for metrology of a lithographic process, the target arrangement comprising at least one pair of similar target regions which are arranged such that the target arrangement is, or at least the target regions for measurement in a single direction together are, centrosymmetric. A metrology method is also disclosed for measuring the substrate. A metrology method is also disclosed comprising which comprises measuring such a target arrangement and determining a value for a parameter of interest from the scattered radiation, while correcting for distortion of the metrology apparatus used.

Substrate comprising a target arrangement, and associated at least one patterning device, lithographic method and metrology method

A method of determining an optimal operational parameter setting of a metrology system is described. Free-form substrate shape measurements are performed. A model is applied, transforming the measured warp to modeled warp scaling values. Substrates are clamped to a chuck, causing substrate deformation. Alignment marks of the substrates are measured using an alignment system with four alignment measurement colors. Scaling values thus obtained are corrected with the modeled warp scaling values to determine corrected scaling values. An optimal alignment measurement color is determined, based on the corrected scaling values. Optionally, scaling values are selected that were measured using the optimal alignment measurement color and a substrate grid is determined using the selected scaling values. A substrate may be exposed using the determined substrate grid to correct exposure of the substrate.

Determining an optimal operational parameter setting of a metrology system

A method to change an etch parameter of a substrate etching process, the method including: making a first measurement of a first metric associated with a structure on a substrate before being etched; making a second measurement of a second metric associated with a structure on a substrate after being etched; and changing the etch parameter based on a difference between the first measurement and the second measurement.

Method to change an etch parameter

A method of measuring a parameter of a patterning process, the method including obtaining a measurement of a substrate processed by a patterning process, with a first metrology target measurement recipe; obtaining a measurement of the substrate with a second, different metrology target measurement recipe, wherein measurements using the first and second metrology target measurement recipes have their own distinct sensitivity to a metrology target structural asymmetry of the patterning process; and determining a value of the parameter by a weighted combination of the measurements of the substrate using the first and second metrology target measurement recipes, wherein the weighting reduces or eliminates the effect of the metrology target structural geometric asymmetry on the parameter of the patterning process determined from the measurements using the first and second metrology target measurement recipes.

Metrology using a plurality of metrology target measurement recipes

A method of characterizing a deformation of a plurality of substrates is described. The method includes: measuring, for a plurality of n different alignment measurement parameters &#x3bb; and for a plurality of substrates, a position of the alignment marks; determining a positional deviation as the difference between the n alignment mark position measurements and a nominal alignment mark position; grouping the positional deviations into data sets; determining an average data set; subtracting the average data set from the data sets to obtain a plurality of variable data sets; performing a blind source separation method on the variable data sets, thereby decomposing the variable data sets into a set of eigenwafers representing principal components of the variable data sets; and subdividing the set of eigenwafers into a set of mark deformation eigenwafers and a set of substrate deformation eigenwafers.

Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method

A method of measuring a property of a substrate, the substrate having a plurality of targets formed thereon, the method comprising:

Method of measuring a property of a substrate, inspection apparatus, lithographic system and device manufacturing method

A substrate has a plurality of overlay gratings formed thereon by a lithographic process. Each overlay grating has a known overlay bias. The values of overlay bias include for example two values in a region centered on zero and two values in a region centered on P/2, where P is the pitch of the gratings. Overlay is calculated from asymmetry measurements for the gratings using knowledge of the different overlay bias values, each of the overall asymmetry measurements being weighted by a corresponding weight factor. Each one of the weight factors represents a measure of feature asymmetry within the respective overlay grating. The calculation is used to improve subsequent performance of the measurement process, and/or the lithographic process. Some of the asymmetry measurements may additionally be weighted by a second weight factor in order to eliminate or reduce the contribution of phase asymmetry to the overlay.

Metrology method and apparatus, substrates for use in such methods, lithographic system and device manufacturing method

Growing community of inventors

Rotterdam, Netherlands

Victor Emanuel Calado