Single cell grey scatterometry overlay targets and their measurement using varying illumination parameter(s)

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11119417-B2
Application number	US-201916491963-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 5, 2019
Priority date	Nov 21, 2018
Publication date	Sep 14, 2021
Grant date	Sep 14, 2021

Abstract

Scatterometry overlay (SCOL) measurement methods, systems and targets are provided to enable efficient SCOL metrology with in-die targets. Methods comprise generating a signal matrix by: illuminating a SCOL target at multiple values of at least one illumination parameter, and at multiple spot locations on the target, wherein the illumination is at a NA (numerical aperture) >⅓ yielding a spot diameter <1μ, measuring interference signals of zeroth and first diffraction orders, and constructing the signal matrix from the measured signals with respect to the illumination parameters and the spot locations on the target; and deriving a target overlay by analyzing the signal matrix. The SCOL targets may be reduced to be a tenth in size with respect to prior art targets, as less and smaller target cells are required, and be easily set in-die to improve the accuracy and fidelity of the metrology measurements.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A scatterometry overlay (SCOL) measurement method comprising:
generating a signal matrix by:
illuminating a SCOL target at multiple values of at least one illumination parameter, and at multiple spot locations on the target, wherein the illumination is at a numerical aperture (NA) greater than ⅓ yielding a spot diameter less than 1μ,
measuring interference signals of a zeroth diffraction order and a first diffraction order, and
constructing the signal matrix from the measured interference signals with respect to the illumination parameters and the spot locations on the target, and

deriving a target overlay by analyzing the signal matrix.

2. The SCOL measurement method of claim 1 , wherein the SCOL target comprises at least one periodic structure and the multiple spot locations are within a pitch of the at least one periodic structure.

3. The SCOL measurement method of claim 2 , further comprising setting the multiple spot locations on the target within the target pitch along a measurement direction of the at least one periodic structure, and averaging the measured interference signal in a direction perpendicular to the measurement direction.

4. The SCOL measurement method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one illumination parameter comprises an illumination wavelength, and the multiple values thereof comprise at least three illumination wavelengths.

5. The SCOL measurement method of claim 1 , further comprising calibrating the signal matrix by performing or simulating measurements of SCOL targets with known overlay values.

6. The SCOL measurement method of claim 5 , further comprising creating a model of the signal matrix with respect to the spot locations, illumination parameters, and target overlays.

7. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having computer readable program for executing one or more instructions on a processor comprising the SCOL measurement method of claim 1 .

8. A metrology module comprising the computer program product of claim 7 .

9. A scatterometry overlay (SCOL) measurement system comprising:
an illumination unit configured to illuminate a SCOL target at multiple values of at least one illumination parameter, and at multiple spot locations on the target, wherein the illumination is at a numerical aperture (NA) greater than ⅓ yielding a spot diameter less than 1μ,
a measurement unit configured to measure interference signals of a zeroth diffraction order and a first diffraction order, and
a processing unit configured to construct a signal matrix from the measured interference signals with respect to the illumination parameters and the spot locations on the target, and derive a target overlay by analyzing the signal matrix.

10. The SCOL measurement system of claim 9 , further configured to set the multiple spot locations on the target within a target pitch along a measurement direction of the at least one periodic structure, and averaging the measured interference signal in a direction perpendicular to the measurement direction by scanning the SCOL target along elements of the at least one periodic structure.

11. The SCOL measurement system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one illumination parameter comprises an illumination wavelength, and the multiple values thereof comprise at least three illumination wavelengths.

12. The SCOL measurement system of claim 9 , further configured to calibrate the signal matrix by performing or simulating measurements of SCOL targets with known overlay values.

13. The SCOL measurement system of claim 12 , further configured to create a model of the signal matrix with respect to the spot locations, illumination parameters and target overlays.

Assignees

• Kla Tencor Corp

Inventors

• Manassen Amnon
• Paskover Yuri
• Amit Eran

Classifications

• G03F7/70633 Primary

  Overlay, i.e. relative alignment between patterns printed by separate exposures in different layers, or in the same layer in multiple exposures or stitching · CPC title

• G01B11/272

  using photoelectric detection means · CPC title

• G01B9/0201

  using temporal phase variation · CPC title

• G01B11/02

  for measuring length, width or thickness (G01B11/08 takes precedence) · CPC title