Multi-Dimensional Metrology for Nanometers Scales IC Manufacturing Process Control

Current Semiconductors Process Control techniques are facing an inflection point. Not only are the dimensions of patterned structures on the silicon wafers decreasing in size to just a few nanometers, but also the structures are turning into complex, stacked, thin 3D layers, with high aspect ratio connecting holes, and deeply buried contact points. New materials with specific morphologies need to be characterized. Metrology equipment developments use various imaging and signal collecting techniques which enable us to measure the structures and detect fabrication process failure. However, with the required resolution and the resulting great amount of data which needs to be collected and must be processed in real-time, the metrology process has become too slow and complex for resolving accurate conclusion. An MDM (Multi-Dimensional Metrology) concept is proposed, to deal with a the critical challenge of how to get below 1 nanometer metrology accuracy at an acceptable throughput.