Paper MS-ThM8
The CD-AFM Technique as a Mean to Accelerate Advanced Process Development for the 45nm Node and Beyond

Thursday, October 18, 2007, 10:20 am, Room 615

As devices dimensions and architectures move towards the 32nm node, CD metrology needs for both production process monitoring and process development must cope with new challenges affected by unknown new materials, architectures and processes. One of the main challenges for advance node requirement is the accuracy in CD metrology which becomes mandatory not only at the R&D level but also at the manufacturing level. By simplicity and also because there was no impact on production yield, the semiconductor industry has traditionally followed a single CD value for use in statistical process control as a representation of their products on a wafer. For advanced processes, the control of profile shape and Line Width Roughness (LWR) is increasingly critical and subsequently the need in metrology accuracy for improvement of sidewall angle (SWA) and LWR is necessary. Through various examples of process development as regards advanced lithography, front-end or back-end etching, we will show that the CD-AFM technique represents a great opportunity to add accuracy in the Semiconductor manufacturing world and will allow other metrology techniques to progress in term of accuracy and subsequently will permit to decrease R&D and manufacturing cost.