Metrology by reconstruction

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10437158-B2
Application number	US-201616060192-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 16, 2016
Priority date	Dec 31, 2015
Publication date	Oct 8, 2019
Grant date	Oct 8, 2019

Abstract

Disclosed herein is a method comprising: obtaining a plurality of measurement results from a pattern on a substrate respectively using a plurality of substrate measurement recipes, the substrate processed by a lithography process; reconstruct, using a computer, the pattern using the plurality of measurement results, to obtain a reconstructed pattern.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
obtaining a plurality of measurement results from a pattern on a substrate respectively using a plurality of substrate measurement recipes performed by a metrology apparatus that illuminates the pattern with radiation, the substrate processed by a lithography process; and
reconstructing, using a computer, the pattern using the plurality of measurement results, to obtain a reconstructed pattern;
wherein each of the plurality of substrate measurement recipes corresponds to one of a plurality of diffraction-based optical measurements to the pattern defined by a plurality of parameterized models respectively, each measurement result is a diffraction image obtained by using one corresponding substrate measurement recipe, and a reconstruction algorithm depends on the plurality of parameterized models.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein reconstructing the pattern is by using a Algebraic Reconstruction Technique, Radon transform, or projection-slice theorem.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein reconstructing the pattern does not use an entirety of each of the plurality of measurement results.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least two of the plurality of substrate measurement recipes differ in intensity distribution at a pupil plane of a metrology tool used in obtaining the measurement results.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least two of the plurality of substrate measurement recipes differ in a wavelength or a polarization of light used in obtaining the measurement results.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pattern has at least one of an asymmetry, a tilted bottom, and a tilted sidewall.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein obtaining a plurality of measurement results comprises illuminating the pattern with ultraviolet light or X-ray.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining an edge placement error or a dimension using the reconstructed pattern.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising aligning a patterning device to the pattern using the reconstructed pattern.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining alignment between two sub-patterns of the pattern, wherein the two sub-patterns are on different layers of the substrate.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining a true value of a measured characteristic of the pattern, using the reconstructed pattern.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining a systematic error of a measured characteristic of the pattern, using the reconstructed pattern.

13. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions recorded thereon, the instructions when executed by a computer implementing the method of claim 1 .

Assignees

• Asml Netherlands Bv

Inventors

• Socha Robert John

Classifications

• G03F7/70625 Primary

  Dimensions, e.g. line width, critical dimension [CD], profile, sidewall angle or edge roughness · CPC title

• G03F7/70158

  Diffractive optical elements · CPC title

• G03F7/70141

  Illumination system adjustment, e.g. adjustments during exposure or alignment during assembly of illumination system · CPC title