Systems and methods for wafer surface feature detection and quantification

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9702829-B1
Application number	US-201414246895-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Apr 7, 2014
Priority date	Apr 9, 2013
Publication date	Jul 11, 2017
Grant date	Jul 11, 2017

Abstract

Interferometer systems and methods for providing improved defect detection and quantification are disclosed. The systems and methods in accordance with the present disclosure may detect surface defects on patterned or bare wafer surfaces and subsequently quantify them. In certain embodiments in accordance with the present disclosure, amplitude maps of the wafer surfaces are obtained and are utilized in addition/alternative to phase maps for wafer surface feature detection. Furthermore, local one-dimensional and/or two-dimensional unwrapping techniques are also disclosed and are utilized in certain embodiments in accordance with the present disclosure to provide height and depth information of the detected defects, further improving the detection capabilities of the measurement systems.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for inspecting a wafer, comprising:
measuring a set of intensity frames of at least one portion of a surface of the wafer utilizing at least one phase-shifting interferogram detector of a wafer inspection system;
extracting an amplitude map of said at least one portion of the surface of the wafer based on said set of intensity frames with a wafer surface feature detection module executed by an interferometer system;
performing wafer defect detection based on the amplitude map with the wafer surface feature detection module executed by the interferometer system;
quantifying at least one of: a shape, a height, a depth, an area and a volume of a detected defect of the wafer; and
reporting data regarding the detected defect of the wafer and said at least one of: the shape, the height, the depth, the area and the volume of the detected defect of the wafer.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one phase-shifting interferogram detector includes two phase-shifting interferometer devices positioned on diametrically opposite sides of a cavity defined to receive the wafer, wherein the two phase-shifting interferometer devices are configured to simultaneously acquire intensity frames of at least one portion of both a front surface and a back surface of the wafer.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
extracting a phase map of said at least one portion of the surface of the wafer based on said set of intensity frames; and
performing defect detection based on at least one of: the amplitude map and the phase map.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein extracting a phase map of said at least one portion of the surface of the wafer based on said set of intensity frames further comprises:
unwrapping the phase map local to a detected defect area utilizing at least one of: a local one-dimensional phase unwrapping process and a local two-dimensional phase unwrapping process.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data regarding the detected defect of the wafer and said at least one of: the shape, the height, the depth, the area, and the volume of the detected defect of the wafer is reported to facilitate control of manufacturing of the wafer.

6. A method for inspecting a wafer, comprising:
measuring a set of intensity frames of a surface of the wafer utilizing at least one phase-shifting interferogram detector of a wafer inspection system;
extracting a phase map of at least one region of interest of the surface of the wafer based on said set of intensity frames with a wafer surface feature detection module executed by an interferometer system;
unwrapping the phase map utilizing a local one-dimensional phase unwrapping process, wherein the local one-dimensional phase unwrapping process is performed based on a plurality of linear unwrapping paths defined locally within said at least one region of interest with a phase unwrapping module executed by the interferometer system;
performing wafer defect detection based on the unwrapped phase map with the wafer surface feature detection module executed by the interferometer system;
quantifying at least one of: a shape, a height, a depth, an area, and a volume of a detected defect of the wafer; and
reporting data regarding the detected defect of the wafer and said at least one of: the shape, the height, the depth, the area, and the volume of the detected defect.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the at least one phase-shifting interferogram detector includes two phase-shifting interferometer devices positioned on diametrically opposite sides of a cavity defined to receive the wafer, wherein the two phase-shifting interferometer devices are configured to simultaneously acquire intensity frames of at least one portion of both a front surface and a back surface of the wafer.

8. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
filtering the unwrapped phase map prior to performing defect detection.

9. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
extracting an amplitude map based on said set of intensity frames; and
identifying said at least one region of interest at least partially based on the amplitude map.

10. The method of claim 6 , wherein the data regarding the detected defect of the wafer and said at least one of: the shape, the height, the depth, the area, and the volume of the detected defect of the wafer is reported to facilitate control of manufacturing of the wafer.

11. A method for inspecting a wafer, comprising:
measuring a set of intensity frames of a surface of the wafer utilizing at least one phase-shifting interferogram detector of a wafer inspection system;
extracting a phase map of at least one region of interest of the surface of the wafer based on said set of intensity frames with a wafer surface feature detection module executed by an interferometer system;
unwrapping the phase map utilizing a local two-dimensional phase unwrapping process, wherein the local two-dimensional phase unwrapping process is performed locally for said at least one region of interest with a phase unwrapping module executed by the interferometer system;
performing wafer defect detection based on the unwrapped phase map with the wafer surface feature detection module executed by the interferometer system;
quantifying at least one of: a shape, a height, a depth, an area, and a volume of a detected defect of the wafer; and
reporting data regarding the detected defect of the wafer and said at least one of: the shape, the height, the depth, the area, and the volume of the detected defect of the wafer.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the at least one phase-shifting interferogram detector includes two phase-shifting interferometer devices positioned on diametrically opposite sides of a cavity defined to receive the wafer, wherein the two phase-shifting interferometer devices are configured to simultaneously acquire intensity frames of at least one portion of both a front surface and a back surface of the wafer.

13. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
filtering the unwrapped phase map prior to performing defect detection.

14. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
extracting an amplitude map based on said set of intensity frames; and
identifying said at least one region of interest at least partially based on the amplitude map.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the data regarding the detected defect of the wafer and said at least one of: the shape, the height, the depth, the area and the volume of the detected defect of the wafer is reported to facilitate control of manufacturing of the wafer.

16. The method of claim 11 , wherein said at least one region of interest includes a plurality of regions of interest jointly covering the full surface of the wafer, further comprising:
unwrapping the phase map utilizing a local two-dimensional phase unwrapping process for each of the plurality of regions of interest;
filtering the unwrapped phase maps for the plurality of regions of interest; and
integrating the unwrapped and filtered phase maps for the plurality of regions of interest to form a continuous unwrapped and filtered phase map for the full surface of the wafer.

17. A wafer inspection system, comprising:
at least one phase-shifting interferogram detector configured for acquiring a set of intensity frames of a surface of a wafer in a wafer inspection process; and
at least one processor in communication with the interferometer, the at least one processor configured to execute a set of instructions that enables the at least one processor to:
extract an amplitude map of

Assignees

• Kla Tencor Corp

Inventors

• Chen Haiguang
• Sinha Jaydeep
• Kamensky Sergey
• Chavez Enrique
• Tang Shouhong
• Plemmons Mark

Classifications

• G01N21/9501 Primary

  Semiconductor wafers (manufacturing processes per se of semiconductor devices implementing a measuring step H10P74/20) · CPC title

• G01B11/303

  using photoelectric detection means · 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

• G01B11/30

  for measuring roughness or irregularity of surfaces · CPC title

• G01B11/306

  for measuring evenness · CPC title