Spinwave based nondestructive material, structure, component, or device testing tools

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9846134-B2
Application number	US-201314020329-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 6, 2013
Priority date	Mar 7, 2011
Publication date	Dec 19, 2017
Grant date	Dec 19, 2017

Abstract

Systems and methods for spinwave-based metrology in accordance with embodiments of the disclosure involve generating and detecting spinwaves in a sample having a ferromagnetic material; and determining a material thickness, a material integrity measure, a presence of a manufacturing defect, a categorical type of manufacturing defect, and/or a manufacturing process statistic corresponding to spinwave behavior in the sample. In an embodiment, spinwaves are generated by way of concurrent exposure of a target measurement site of the sample to each of a bias magnetic field and radiation (e.g., microwave or radio frequency radiation) produced by a first set of integrated waveguides. A response signal corresponding to a behavior of spinwaves within the target measurement site can be generated by way of a second set of integrated waveguides. Various embodiments of systems and methods for generating spinwaves, detecting spinwaves, and calculating, analyzing, or monitoring one or more sample properties can be automated.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A metrology method comprising:
providing at least one sample;
providing a bias magnetic field;
generating radiation;
concurrently exposing at least one target measurement site of the at least one sample to the bias magnetic field and the generated radiation to thereby excite spinwaves within the at least one target measurement site of the at least one sample;
detecting a response signal corresponding to a behavior of the spinwaves excited within the at least one target measurement site of the at least one sample; and
determining a presence of a manufacturing defect in the at least one sample corresponding to the behavior of the spinwaves within the at least one target measurement site of the at least one sample.

2. The metrology method of claim 1 , further comprising determining a categorical type of manufacturing defect in the at least one sample corresponding to the behavior of spinwaves within the at least one target measurement site of the at least one sample.

3. The metrology method of claim 2 , wherein the categorical type of manufacturing defect is one of a vertical line defect, a horizontal line defect, and a dot array defect.

4. The metrology method of claim 1 , further comprising indicating a presence of an alignment error corresponding to one or more layers of the at least one sample.

5. The metrology method of claim 1 , further comprising:
identifying a distribution of detected response signals across the at least one sample;
determining a manufacturing process statistic corresponding to the distribution of detected response signals across the at least one sample; and
providing a visual representation of manufacturing process variations or manufacturing process errors correlated with the distribution of detected response signals across the at least one sample.

6. The metrology method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of generating radiation and detecting the response signal occurs by way of a set of patterned waveguide elements fabricated in accordance with at least one of microfabrication techniques and nanofabrication techniques.

7. The metrology method of claim 6 , wherein the set of patterned waveguide elements is positioned a predetermined separation distance away from the at least one sample, and wherein the at least one sample is displaceable relative to the set of patterned waveguide elements.

8. The metrology method of claim 6 , wherein detecting the response signal comprises (i) detecting one of radiation transmitted through the at least one sample and radiation reflected by the at least one sample, or (ii) generating a voltage in the set of patterned waveguide elements by way of magnetic induction corresponding to the behavior of spinwaves within the at least one target measurement site of the at least one sample.

9. The metrology method of claim 6 , wherein generating radiation occurs by way of a first set of patterned waveguide elements, and wherein detecting the response signal occurs by way of a second set of patterned waveguide elements.

10. The metrology method of claim 9 , wherein the first set of patterned waveguide elements and the second set of patterned waveguide elements are one of physically distinct and physically non-distinct.

11. The metrology method of claim 6 , wherein the set of patterned waveguide elements comprises multiple generator waveguide elements fabricated in an array and configured for generating radiation to facilitate exposure of multiple target measurement sites of the at least one sample to generated radiation on a sequential or a simultaneous basis.

12. The metrology method of claim 11 , wherein the at least one sample comprises multiple devices under test (DUT), and wherein concurrently exposing at least one target measurement site of the at least one sample to the bias magnetic field and the generated radiation comprises exposing each DUT to the bias magnetic field and generated radiation to thereby excite spinwaves in each DUT.

13. The metrology method of claim 6 , wherein the set of patterned waveguide elements comprises multiple detector waveguide elements fabricated in an array and configured for detecting multiple response signals corresponding to the behavior of spinwaves excited in multiple target measurement sites of the at least one sample on a sequential or simultaneous basis.

14. The metrology method of claim 13 , wherein the at least one sample comprises multiple devices under test (DUT), and wherein detecting a response signal corresponding to a behavior of the spinwaves excited within the at least one target measurement site comprises detecting a response signal in each DUT.

15. A metrology system comprising:
a bias magnetic field unit configured for providing a set of bias magnetic fields;
a radiation generation apparatus configured for providing radiation within at least one spatial spinwave generation region;
a sample stage configured for carrying at least one sample such that a target measurement site of the at least one sample is positionable within the at least one spatial spinwave generation region;
a response signal generation apparatus configured for generating a response signal corresponding to a behavior of spinwaves generated within the target measurement site of the at least one sample; and
a processing unit configured for determining a presence of a manufacturing defect in the at least one sample corresponding to the behavior of the spinwaves within the target measurement site of the at least one sample.

16. The metrology system of claim 15 , wherein the processing unit is further configured for determining at least one of (i) a categorical type of manufacturing defect in the at least one sample corresponding to the behavior of spinwaves within the target measurement site of the at least one sample, and (ii) a presence of an alignment error corresponding to one or more layers of the at least one sample.

17. The metrology system of claim 16 , wherein the categorical type of manufacturing defect is one of a vertical line defect, a horizontal line defect, and a dot array defect.

18. The metrology system of claim 17 , wherein at least one of the radiation generation apparatus and the response signal generation apparatus comprises a set of waveguide elements fabricated in accordance with at least one of microfabrication techniques and nanofabrication techniques.

19. The metrology system of claim 18 , wherein the set of patterned waveguide elements is positioned a predetermined separation distance away from the sample stage, and wherein the sample stage is displaceable relative to the set of patterned waveguide elements.

20. The metrology system of claim 18 , wherein each of the radiation generation apparatus and the response signal generation apparatus comprises a set of patterned waveguide elements.

21. The metrology system of claim 20 , wherein the patterned waveguide elements corresponding to the radiation generation apparatus and the patterned waveguide elements corresponding to the response signal generation apparatus are one of physically distinct and physically non-distinct.

22. The metrology system of claim 18 , wherein the set of patterned waveguide elements comprises multiple generator waveguide elements fabricated in an array and configured for generating radiation to facilitate exposure of multiple target measurement sites of the at least one sample to generated radiation on a sequential or a simultaneous basis.

23. The metrology sy

Assignees

• Nat Univ Singapore

Inventors

• Yang Hyunsoo
• Mukherjee Sankha Subhra
• Kwon Jae Hyun

Classifications

• G01R33/60

  using electron paramagnetic resonance (G01R33/24, G01R33/62 take precedence) · CPC title

• G01N22/00

  Investigating or analysing materials by the use of microwaves or radio waves, i.e. electromagnetic waves with a wavelength of one millimetre or more (G01N3/00 - G01N17/00, G01N24/00 take precedence) · CPC title

• G01N24/10 Primary

  by using electron paramagnetic resonance (G01N24/12 takes precedence) · CPC title