A variety of middle-of-line lithography overlay (OVL) and process window (PW) parameters have been monitored using PDF Solutions Design-for-InspectionTM (DFITM) in 14nm FinFET technology. The DFI system, which incorporates voltage contrast (VC) electron beam (e-beam) technique on PDF Solutions knowledge based test structure designs, has proven to assist lithography overlay control and process diagnostics, covering process loops of epitaxy, metal gate (MG), contact on active (M0A), contact on metal gate (M0P) as well as segmentation cuts of M0A and MG. In-line eBeam scans are performed after Contact CMP, and OVL and PW parameters are extracted from the curve fitting of VC signals responding to misalignment values. For each process module, dedicated test structures with different layout attributes are designed and placed on the wafer to characterize OVL and PW sensitivity to feature density, geometry and substrate doping. In this work, the concept of DFI system, with specific illustration of DFI M0A to MG OVL measurement to assist inline OVL control and process fix is reported. Although eBeam-based Voltage Contrast techniques traditionally have been used to detect Open and Short failures, and cannot be used to directly measure critical dimensions (CD) of patterned features, the DFI system is designed to monitor integrated process window (PW) variation introduced either by an intentional process split or an unintentional process/tool drift in production line. The results presented below demonstrate DFI capability to assist in-line OVL and PW control for yield enhancement, production monitoring, and excursion prevention.
KEYWORDS: Transmission electron microscopy, Calibration, Semiconducting wafers, Electron microscopes, Fin field effect transistors, Image filtering, Scanning electron microscopy, Etching, Image quality, Integrated circuits, Deep ultraviolet, 193nm lithography, Electro optical systems calibration, Precision measurement, Accuracy assessment
In the 14nm FinFET(Fin-shaped Field-Effect Transistor) node, SADP(Self-Aligned Double Patterning) technology has been introduced to produce Fin because of the exposure limit of 193nm DUV immersion lithography. As is known to all, pitch walking issue appears when the technology comes to SADP, so how to accurately measure pitch walking is particularly important. In this paper, we use CD-SEM(Critical Dimension Scanning Electron Microscope) to measure the CD(Critical Dimension) of Fin pitch inline, and evaluate different parameter settings or machine type to improve the accuracy of the measurement results. For sub-nanometer accuracy of line width measurement, TEM(Transmission Electron Microscope) image is used to calibrate the line width measurements as a kind of reference metrology.
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