System and method using visible and infrared light to align and measure alignment patterns on multiple layers
First Claim
1. A system, comprising:
- an alignment system including an illumination portion and a detector, the illumination portion producing at least visible and infrared light;
an object, including, a surface layer including a first feature pattern and a first alignment pattern, a support layer, and a second layer, which is located between the surface layer and the support layer, wherein at least one of the support layer and the second layer comprises a second feature pattern and a second alignment pattern; and
a focusing system that co-focuses on the detector the at least visible and infrared light after each has impinged on at least one of the first and second alignment patterns, whereby the object is aligned to receive subsequent feature patterns based on the detected first and second alignment patterns.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method are used to increase alignment accuracy of feature patterns through detection of alignment patterns on both a surface layer and at least one below surface layers of an object. Visible light is used to detect alignment patterns on the surface layer and infrared light is used to detect patterns one layers below the surface. For example, reflected visible light and transmitted infrared light are co-focused onto detector after impinging on respective alignment patterns. The co-focused light is then used to determine proper alignment of the object for subsequent pattern features. This substantially increases accuracy of alignment of pattern features between layers, as compared to conventional systems.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A system, comprising:
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an alignment system including an illumination portion and a detector, the illumination portion producing at least visible and infrared light;
an object, including, a surface layer including a first feature pattern and a first alignment pattern, a support layer, and a second layer, which is located between the surface layer and the support layer, wherein at least one of the support layer and the second layer comprises a second feature pattern and a second alignment pattern; and
a focusing system that co-focuses on the detector the at least visible and infrared light after each has impinged on at least one of the first and second alignment patterns, whereby the object is aligned to receive subsequent feature patterns based on the detected first and second alignment patterns. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method, comprising:
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(a) generating at least visible light and infrared light;
(b) impinging the visible light onto a first alignment pattern on a surface layer of an object;
(c) focusing the impinged visible light onto a detector;
(d) impinging the infrared light onto a second alignment pattern on a second layer of the object, the second layer of the object being below the first layer of the object;
(e) focusing the impinged infrared light onto the detector;
(f) generating an alignment signal based on the detected first and second alignment patterns; and
(g) aligning the object to receive a subsequent portion of a feature pattern based on step (f). - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification