Philips: Automatically characterize new dielectric materials in semiconductor process lines
28-Mar-2001
Accurately characterizing the latest dielectric materials, Philips
Analytical's fully automatic PQ Ruby measures thicknesses,
refractive indices and absorption coefficients of transparent films
from 0 nm to 30 microns thick. Materials include (ultra-thin) gate
oxides, low- and high-k dielectrics, nitrides, CMP oxides, 193-nm
ARC and resist, SOI, amorphous Si and poly-Si. Precision and
repeatability are typically 0.03Å for ultra-thin gate oxides, even at
the high throughput needed for in-line process control of
semiconductor production-lines/order_t/'>production lines.
Laser ellipsometry is by far the more precise and repeatable method
over spectroscopic ellipsometry for measuring film thicknesses. The
PQ Ruby therefore helps IC manufacturers to measure and
understand the changes in materials that occur during production,
thus improving both yields and the processes themselves. A unique
double infra-red option solves the ambiguity problem of single laser
systems, generating unique values even when characterizing
multi-layer (for example OPO and ONO) stacks in a single
measurement. All this with a microspot size of around 10 microns
allows in-structure analysis. The recently introduced Reflectometer
is completely integrated into the system, further expanding the
thickness range and yet operated from within the same,
user-friendly Windows-NT based software.
The PQ Ruby fits into new or existing 200 mm fabs, with an optional
dual load port expanding the exceptional throughput and doubling
unattended operation time. The footprint is extremely small (0.75
and 1.44 sq. meters for the single and dual load port systems
respectively) to save valuable clean-room space. The combined
Laser Ellipsometer/Reflectometer suits fully automatic in-line
process control systems, and can optionally be managed by
SECS/GEM software. Both hardware and software are SEMI
compliant, with pattern recognition software to increase throughput.
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