Control of etch and deposition processes
First Claim
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1. A method for improved control of etch or deposition in a semiconductor manufacturing process to produce a structure having a small feature size, the method comprising:
- providing an illumination source at one or more selected wavelengths;
generating from said illumination source an optical probe measurement beam;
illuminating an article undergoing processing with said beam, the article having within the area of illumination an ordered feature arrangement having a feature size of the same order as the structure to be produced and being arranged in a regular pattern having a given feature spacing or spacings;
said selected wavelength or each of said selected wavelengths being within 30% of a whole number of wavelengths of a size equal to the projection on a plane normal to the illuminating radiation of said feature spacing or a respective one of said feature spacings;
detecting an oscillation of a polarization component in the light beam reflected from the article being processed which is derived substantially from anomalous reflection or Rayleigh Resonance at the feature arrangement resulting from the illumination; and
using the oscillation to detect or predict the desired endpoint or monitor the progress in real time of the etch or deposition.
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Abstract
This invention relates to the control of etch and deposition processes in the manufacture of semiconductor devices, microelectronic machines (MEMs), and waveguides.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A method for improved control of etch or deposition in a semiconductor manufacturing process to produce a structure having a small feature size, the method comprising:
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providing an illumination source at one or more selected wavelengths;
generating from said illumination source an optical probe measurement beam;
illuminating an article undergoing processing with said beam, the article having within the area of illumination an ordered feature arrangement having a feature size of the same order as the structure to be produced and being arranged in a regular pattern having a given feature spacing or spacings;
said selected wavelength or each of said selected wavelengths being within 30% of a whole number of wavelengths of a size equal to the projection on a plane normal to the illuminating radiation of said feature spacing or a respective one of said feature spacings;
detecting an oscillation of a polarization component in the light beam reflected from the article being processed which is derived substantially from anomalous reflection or Rayleigh Resonance at the feature arrangement resulting from the illumination; and
using the oscillation to detect or predict the desired endpoint or monitor the progress in real time of the etch or deposition. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. Apparatus for use in s semiconductor manufacturing process, the apparatus comprising,
a vacuum enclosure; -
a workpiece location within the enclosure for locating a semiconductor workpiece to be processed to produce a structure having a small feature size, said semiconductor workpiece having an ordered feature arrangement having a feature size of the same order as the structure to be produced and being arranged in a regular pattern having a given feature spacing;
an illumination source producing light at one or more wavelengths each within 30% of a whole number of wavelengths of a size equal to the projection upon a plane normal to the incident illumination of said feature spacing;
optical projection means cooperating with the light source to produce an optical probe measurement beam directed to said workpiece location;
optical detection means arranged to detect an oscillation of a polarization component in the light beam reflected from the article being processed which is derived substantially from anomalous reflection or Rayleigh Resonance at the feature arrangement resulting from the illumination; and
data processing means arranged to use the oscillation to detect or predict the desired endpoint or monitor the progress in real time of the etch or deposition. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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Specification