Metrology optimized inspection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9518932-B2
Application number	US-201414517751-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 17, 2014
Priority date	Nov 6, 2013
Publication date	Dec 13, 2016
Grant date	Dec 13, 2016

Abstract

Methods and systems for determining one or more parameters of a wafer inspection process are provided. One method includes acquiring metrology data for a wafer generated by a wafer metrology system. The method also includes determining one or more parameters of a wafer inspection process for the wafer or another wafer based on the metrology data.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method for determining one or more parameters of a wafer inspection process, comprising:
acquiring metrology data for a wafer generated by a wafer metrology system, wherein the wafer metrology system performs measurements on the wafer thereby generating the metrology data, and wherein acquiring the metrology data comprises acquiring the metrology data from a storage medium in which the metrology data has been stored by the wafer metrology system;and
determining one or more parameters of a wafer inspection process for the wafer or another wafer based on the metrology data, wherein said acquiring and said determining are performed by a computer system, wherein the computer system comprises one or more processors and executes instructions from a memory medium, wherein the wafer inspection process is performed to detect defects on the wafer or the other wafer, and wherein determining the one or more parameters comprises:
determinining a probability of critical dimension variation in one or more areas of the wafer or the other wafer based on the metrology data;
determining at least one of the one or more areas in which the probability is higher than other of the one or more areas; and
determining the one or more parameters such that the at least one of the one or more areas is sampled by a wafer inspection system that performs the wafer inspection process more heavily than the other of the one or more areas.

2. The method of claim 1 , Wherein the metrology data comprises information for warp of the wafer.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the metrology data comprises information for bow of the wafer.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the metrology data comprises a thickness of a film formed on the wafer.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the metrology data comprises a critical dimension of a patterned structure formed on the wafer.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more parameters of the wafer inspection process that are determined for the one or more areas on the wafer or the other wafer are different from the one or more parameters determined for one or more other areas on the wafer or the other wafer.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more parameters of the wafer inspection process comprise one or more parameters of defect detection performed during the wafer inspection process.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more parameters of the wafer inspection process comprise one or more parameters that at least partially determine a sensitivity of defect detection performed for the one or more areas of the wafer or the other wafer.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more parameters of the wafer inspection process comprise one or more parameters of defect sampling performed during the wafer inspection process.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more parameters of the wafer inspection process comprise a selection of the one or more areas on the wafer or the other wafer at which output is generated by the wafer inspection system during the wafer inspection process.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the one or more parameters further comprises:
selecting one or more die on the wafer or the other wafer based on the metrology data;
acquiring output generated by the wafer inspection system for the e or more selected die; and
generating a reference die from the output generated by the wafer inspection system for the one or more selected die, wherein the reference die is used in the wafer inspection process to detect the defects on the wafer or the other wafer.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the one or more parameters of the wafer inspection process further comprises:
determining, based on one or more first parameters of the wafer inspection process and the metrology data, which one or more areas on the wafer or the other wafer will produce more noise than other areas on the wafer or the other wafer in the wafer inspection process and which one or more additional areas on the wafer or the other wafer will produce less noise than other areas on the wafer or the other wafer; and
determining one or more second parameters of the wafer inspection process based on the one or more areas that will produce more noise than the other areas and the one or more additional areas.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the one or more second parameters comprise one or more defect sampling parameters, and wherein the one or more defect sampling parameters are determined to preferentially select random defects in the one or more additional areas that will produce less noise than the other areas.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the one or more second parameters comprise one or more defect sampling parameters, and wherein the one or more defect sampling parameters are determined to preferentially select systematic defects in the one or more areas that will produce more noise than the other areas.

15. The method of claim 1 , further comprising acquiring metrology or inspection data for a reticle, wherein the reticle is used to print patterned features on the wafer, and wherein determining the one or more parameters of the wafer inspection process is performed based on the metrology data for the wafter in combination with the metrology or inspection data for the reticle.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more parameters comprise one or more additional areas of the wafer or the other wafer used for field-to-field inspection performed within dies during the wafer inspection process.

17. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining one or more parameters of a fabrication process for the wafer or the other wafer based on the metrology data, wherein the wafer inspection process is further performed on the wafer or the other wafer after the fabrication process is performed on the wafer or the other wafer, and wherein determining the one or more parameters of the wafer inspection process is performed based on the metrology data for the wafer in combination with the one or more parameters of the fabrication process.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the one or more parameters further comprises determining one or more characteristics of noise in output generated for one or more additional areas of the wafer or the other wafer by the wafer inspection system during the wafer inspection process based on the metrology data and determining one or more parameters of output noise reduction performed during the wafer inspection process based on the one or more determined characteristics of the noise.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium, storing program instructions executable on a computer system for performing a computer-implemented method for determining one or more parameters of a wafer inspection process, wherein the computer-implemented method comprises:
acquiring metrology data for a wafer generated by a wafer metrology system, wherein the wafer metrology system performs measurements on the wafer thereby generating the metrology data, and wherein acquiring the metrology data comprises acquiring the metrology data from a storage medium in which the metrology data has been stored by the wafer metrology system; and
determining one or more parameters of a wafer inspection process for the wafer or another wafer based on the metrology data, wherein the computer system comprises one or more processors and executes the program instructions from the non-transitory computer-readable medium, wherein the wafer insp

Assignees

• Kla Tencor Corp
• Kla Tencor Corp

Inventors

• Park Allen
• Macnaughton Craig
• Chang Ellis

Classifications

• G01N21/93 Primary

  Detection standards; Calibrating {baseline adjustment, drift correction} · CPC title

• G01B2210/56

  Measuring geometric parameters of semiconductor structures, e.g. profile, critical dimensions or trench depth · CPC title

• G01N2201/105

  Purely optical scan · CPC title

• G03F7/705

  Modelling or simulating from physical phenomena up to complete wafer processes or whole workflow in wafer productions · CPC title

• G01N21/956

  Inspecting patterns on the surface of objects {(contactless testing of electronic circuits G01R31/308; testing currency G07D; manufacturing processes per se of semiconductor devices implementing a measuring step H10P74/20)} · CPC title