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.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 13, 2002
Filed:
Oct. 10, 2000
Bruce L. Pickelsimer, Pflugerville, TX (US);
Tim Z. Hossain, Austin, TX (US);
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Abstract
A system and method are presented for determining the thickness and elemental composition of a layer within a measurement sample in an easy and inexpensive manner. An embodiment of the method includes impinging an incident x-ray beam into an exposed surface of a measurement sample containing one or more layers. The incident x-ray beam passes through the sample and may refract depending on the composition of the layers to produce a transmitted x-ray beam. The intensity and the angle of refraction of the transmitted x-ray beam may then be measured. These measurements may be compared to the results of a calibration sample that has been prepared with a known thickness and composition relative to the layer characteristics of the sample. The intensity of the transmitted x-ray beam is a function of the thickness of the layer; while the angle of refraction is a function of the elemental composition of the layer. An embodiment of the system includes an x-ray source to produce an incident x-ray beam and a detector to collect a transmitted x-ray beam. The detector is preferably positioned on the side opposite of the exposed surface of the sample on which the incident x-ray beam is impinged. In an alternative embodiment, the system may include a stage on which to place the measurement sample. The process described herein may be used for semiconductor wafers on which a thin film has been applied. The system may be suitable for use in a semiconductor fabrication environment, allowing increased production efficiency and improved process control. Furthermore, thin films of various compositions and thicknesses may be measured, including those of low and high atomic numbers.