The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.

The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.

Date of Patent:
Jun. 16, 2020

Filed:

Mar. 28, 2016
Applicant:

Kla-tencor Corporation, Milpitas, CA (US);

Inventors:

Daniel Kandel, Aseret, IL;

Mark D. Smith, Austin, TX (US);

Mark Wagner, Rehovot, IL;

Eran Amit, Haifa, IL;

Myungjun Lee, San Jose, CA (US);

Assignee:

KLA-Tencor Corporation, Milpitas, CA (US);

Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G01R 31/14 (2006.01); G06F 30/398 (2020.01); H01L 21/66 (2006.01); G01N 21/93 (2006.01); G01N 21/956 (2006.01); G06F 119/18 (2020.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
G06F 30/398 (2020.01); G01N 21/93 (2013.01); G01N 21/956 (2013.01); H01L 22/30 (2013.01); G01N 2201/13 (2013.01); G06F 2119/18 (2020.01); H01L 22/12 (2013.01); Y02P 80/30 (2015.11);
Abstract

Metrology methods are provided, which comprise identifying overlay critical patterns in a device design, the overlay critical patterns having an overlay sensitivity to process variation above a specified threshold that depends on design specifications; and using metrology targets that correspond to the identified overlay critical patterns. Alternatively or complementarily, metrology methods comprise identifying yield critical patterns according to a corresponding process window narrowing due to specified process variation, wherein the narrowing is defined by a dependency of edge placement errors (EPEs) of the patterns on process parameters. Corresponding targets and measurements are provided.


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