HIGH-RESOLUTION OPTICAL CHANNEL FOR NON-DESTRUCTIVE NAVIGATION AND PROCESSING OF INTEGRATED CIRCUITS

• US 20080067369A1
• Filed: 05/23/2006
• Published: 03/20/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 05/23/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GlobalFoundries, Inc.
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Renner, Michael, Marchman, Herschel M., Rue, Chad, Herschbein, Steven B., Rana, Narender
• Granted Patent: US 7,351,966 B1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 250/306
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 2237/2446 Position sensitive detectors
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 2237/24578 Spatial variables, e.g. position, distance
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 2237/31749 Focused ion beam
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 37/226 Optical arrangements for illuminating the object; optical arrangements for collecting light from the object
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 37/28 with scanning beams H01J37/268, H01J37/292, H01J37/2955 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 37/3056 for microworking, e.g. etching of gratings, trimming of electrical components trimming of resistors H01C17/22

Abstract

An optical-fiber based light channel system is included in an ion/electron beam tool for imaging and/or processing integrated circuits. The optical channel system includes an image collection portion, an optical fiber image transmission portion and a detector portion. The image collection portion includes micro-optical components and has submillimeter dimensions, so that it is easily accommodated within the working distance of the ion/electron beam tool. The entire system is sufficiently compact and lightweight so that it may easily be mounted on a translation stage inside the sample chamber, which permits the optical channel to be mechanically extended and retracted to avoid blocking the primary ion or electron beam. The system may be mounted to a translation stage or to a gas injector assembly, which may itself be mounted to a flange plate on the chamber wall with feed-through ports for electrical and optical signals.

Claims

1. A system for forming a high-resolution image of an area of a workpiece disposed in a chamber of a charged-particle beam device characterized by a working distance with respect to the workpiece, the system comprising:

an image collection portion having an axis normal to the workpiece;

an image transmission portion including an optical channel having an axis substantially parallel to the workpiece and an optical component at a distal end thereof for directing image information from the image collection portion to the optical channel; and

a detector portion for detecting the image information, wherein

the image collection portion and the image transmission portion are located within the working distance, and

the image transmission portion transmits illumination to the area of the workpiece.

2. A system according to claim 1, further comprising a translation device for extending the image collection portion to the area of the workpiece and retracting the image collection portion therefrom.

3. A system according to claim 1, wherein the image transmission portion further comprises

a first optical channel for transmitting the image information;

and

a second optical channel for transmitting the illumination,

the first optical channel and the second optical channel being substantially parallel.

4. A system according to claim 1, wherein the optical channel includes an optical fiber.

5. A system according to claim 3, wherein the first optical channel and the second optical channel each include an optical fiber.

6. A system according to claim 3, wherein the first optical channel has a diameter greater than that of the second optical channel.

7. A system according to claim 4, wherein the optical channel has a coherent bundle of optical fibers.

8. A system according to claim 3, wherein the first optical channel is adapted to transmit illumination to the workpiece, so that the workpiece is illuminated using both the first optical channel and the second optical channel.

9. A system according to claim 1, further comprising a gas delivery system for delivering a reactant to the area of the workpiece, and wherein illumination from the optical channel promotes a chemical reaction between the reactant and workpiece material.

10. A system according to claim 2, wherein the translation device is mounted on a removable portion of a wall of the chamber.

11. A system according to claim 1, wherein the image collection portion and the image transmission portion are within about 5 mm of the workpiece.

12. A system according to claim 1, wherein the image collection portion and the image transmission portion are adapted to deliver infrared image information to the detector, thereby indicating a temperature of the area of the workpiece.

13. A system according to claim 1, wherein the optical component comprises a prism for directing the image information through an angle of 90 degrees.

14. A system according to claim 1, wherein the optical component includes a beamsplitter.

15. A system according to claim 1, further comprising a second optical component for directing the image information to the detector portion.

16. A system according to claim 4, wherein the optical fiber is a gradient index fiber.

17. A system according to claim 16, wherein the gradient index fiber preserves a phase of the image information.

18. A system according to claim 2, wherein the optical channel includes a flexible optical fiber and the optical fiber flexes when the translation device retracts the image collection portion.

19. A system according to claim 1, wherein the charged-particle beam device is one of a focused ion beam (FIB) tool and a scanning electron microscope (SEM).

20. A system according to claim 19, wherein the area of the workpiece is centered at the beam center of the beam device.