IUVSTA 15th International Vacuum Congress (IVC-15), AVS 48th International Symposium (AVS-48), 11th International Conference on Solid Surfaces (ICSS-11)
    Manufacturing Science and Technology Monday Sessions
       Session MS-MoM

Paper MS-MoM3
Critical Dimension and Profile Measurement by Optical Scatterometry for Sub-0.15 µm Advanced Gate and Shallow Trench Isolation Structures

Monday, October 29, 2001, 10:20 am, Room 131

Session: Metrology and Inspection for Manufacturing
Presenter: D. Mui, Applied Materials
Authors: D. Mui, Applied Materials
H. Sasano, Applied Materials
J. Yamatino, Applied Materials
M.S. Barnes, Applied Materials
K. Fairbarn, Applied Materials
Correspondent: Click to Email
The use of a non-destructive optical scatterometry (OS) technique for measuring critical dimensions (CD) and cross-sectional profiles in advanced gate and shallow trench isolation (STI) structures with sub-0.15 µm feature size has been evaluated. Conventional scanning electron microscopy (SEM) technique was used as the reference for comparison. 8" Si wafers with various feature sizes and profiles were used in this study. A bias between optical-CD (OCD) and SEM-CD measured on the same feature was observed. Measurements on different OS tools from different vendors showed consistently smaller CDs than those measured on a SEM tool. This CD bias was observed to be profile dependent ranging from 2 to 20 nm in our study. Good correlation between the two CD metrologies was obtained for a given wafer when a constant bias was added to the OCD data set. For profile comparison, various profiles including - bowed, tapered, notched, and vertical, were etched and measured. In general, good correlation was obtained between the non-destructive OS and destructive SEM techniques.