Kla-Tencor Technologies Corporation

Prometrix Corporation

Walter H Johnson

Shankar Krishnan

Murali K Narasimhan

Chester L Mallory

Jagadish Kalyanam

Wayne K Borglum

Andrei Danet

Daniel Griffing

George Erskine

Torsten Borchers

A process for measuring both the reflectance and sheet resistance of a thin film, such as a metal film or a doped semiconductor, in a common apparatus comprises: directing a beam of radiation from a radiation source on the common apparatus onto a portion of the surface of the thin film, sensing the amount of radiation reflected from the surface of the thin film, and contacting the surface of the thin film with a sheet resistance measurement apparatus on the apparatus at a portion of the surface of the thin film coincident with or adjacent to the portion of the thin film contacted by the radiation beam to measure the sheet resistance of the thin film. The sheet resistance measurement apparatus may, by way of example, comprise a 4 point probe or an eddy current measurement apparatus. The respective measurements may be carried out either simultaneously or sequentially. By deriving the resistivity of the thin film from the measured reflectance at any particular region of the thin film surface, the thickness of the thin film, at that region of the film, may be obtained by dividing the derived resistivity by the measured sheet resistance for that same region.

Process and apparatus for integrating sheet resistance measurements and reflectance measurements of a thin film in a common apparatus

A pin configured to be disposed within a probe is provided. The probe may be configured to measure a property of a conductive layer. The pin may include a contact surface which may be substantially planar. The pin may also include a first portion extending from the contact surface. A cross-sectional area of the first portion, in a direction substantially parallel to the contact surface, may be substantially equal to a surface area of the contact surface across a length of the first portion. A system configured to measure a property of a conductive layer is also provided. The system may include a mounting device and at least two probes coupled to the mounting device. The probes may be configured to measure the property of a conductive layer. In addition, the mounting device may be configured such that one of the probes may contact the conductive layer during measurement.

Systems and methods for measuring properties of conductive layers

The resistivity of the surface of a semiconductor wafer is measured at different temperatures to determine the resistivity as a function of temperature. The temperature of the semiconductor wafer is varied by a heater in thermal contact with the semiconductor wafer, and the temperature is measured by a temperature sensor in thermal contact with the semiconductor. The heater is controlled by a control unit which adjusts the amount of heat provided by the heater, thereby controlling the temperature at which a measurement from a four-point resistivity probe is taken.

Semiconductor surface resistivity probe with semiconductor temperature

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San Jose, CA, United States of America

Walter H Johnson