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Control of etch and deposition processes

  • US 20050042777A1
  • Filed: 08/20/2003
  • Published: 02/24/2005
  • Est. Priority Date: 08/20/2003
  • Status: Abandoned Application
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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