Methods and systems for determining a thickness of a structure on a specimen and at least one additional property of the specimen
First Claim
1. A system configured to determine at least two properties of a specimen during use, comprising:
- a stage configured to support the specimen during use;
two or more measurement devices coupled to the stage, wherein the two or more measurement devices are configured to generate one or more output signals in response to one or more of the at least two properties of the specimen during use; and
a processor coupled to the two or more measurement devices, wherein the processor is configured to determine the at least two properties of the specimen from the one or more output signals during use, wherein the at least two properties comprise a thickness of a structure on the specimen and at least one additional property of the specimen, and wherein the two or more measurement devices are selected to provide the one or more output signals for different ranges of the thickness of the structure.
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Abstract
Methods and systems for monitoring semiconductor fabrication processes are provided. A system may include a stage configured to support a specimen and coupled to a measurement device. The measurement device may include an illumination system and a detection system. The illumination system and the detection system may be configured such that the system may be configured to determine multiple properties of the specimen. For example, the system may be configured to determine multiple properties of a specimen including, but not limited to, a thickness of a structure on a specimen and at least one additional property of the specimen. In this manner, a measurement device may perform multiple optical and/or non-optical metrology and/or inspection techniques.
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Citations
73 Claims
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1. A system configured to determine at least two properties of a specimen during use, comprising:
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a stage configured to support the specimen during use;
two or more measurement devices coupled to the stage, wherein the two or more measurement devices are configured to generate one or more output signals in response to one or more of the at least two properties of the specimen during use; and
a processor coupled to the two or more measurement devices, wherein the processor is configured to determine the at least two properties of the specimen from the one or more output signals during use, wherein the at least two properties comprise a thickness of a structure on the specimen and at least one additional property of the specimen, and wherein the two or more measurement devices are selected to provide the one or more output signals for different ranges of the thickness of the structure. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61)
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62. A method determining at least two properties of a specimen, comprising:
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disposing the specimen upon a stage, wherein the stage is coupled to two or more measurement devices;
generating one or more output signals with the two or more measurement devices, wherein the one or more output signals are responsive to the at least two properties of the specimen; and
processing the one or more output signals to determine the at least two properties of the specimen, wherein the at least two properties of the specimen comprise a thickness of a structure on the specimen and at least one additional property of the specimen, and wherein the one or more output signals that are processed are selected to be the one or more output signals provided by one of the two or more measurement devices depending on the thickness of the structure.
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63. A computer-implemented method for controlling a system configured to determine at least two properties of a specimen during use, wherein the system comprises a stage coupled to two or more measurement devices, and wherein the stage is configured to support the specimen during use, the method comprising:
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controlling the two or more measurement devices to generate one or more output signals responsive to the at least two properties of the specimen; and
processing the one or more output signals to determine the at least two properties of the specimen, wherein the at least two properties of the specimen comprise a thickness of a structure on the specimen and at least one additional property of the specimen, and wherein the one or more output signals that are processed are selected to be the one or more output signals provided by one of the two or more measurement devices depending on the thickness of the structure.
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64. A method for fabricating a semiconductor device, comprising:
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forming a portion of the semiconductor device upon a specimen;
disposing the specimen upon a stage, wherein the stage is coupled to two or more measurement devices;
generating one or more output signals with the two or more measurement devices, wherein the one or more output signals are responsive to at least two properties of the specimen; and
processing the one or more output signals to determine the at least two properties of the specimen, wherein the at least two properties of the specimen comprise a thickness of a structure on the specimen and at least one additional property of the specimen, and wherein the one or more output signals that are processed selected to be the one or more output signals provided by one of the two or more measurement devices depending on the thickness of the structure.
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65. A system configured to determine at least two properties of a specimen during use, comprising:
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a stage configured to support the specimen during use;
two or more measurement devices coupled to the stage, wherein the two or more measurement devices are configured to generate one or more output signals in response to one or more of the at least two properties of the specimen during use;
a local processor coupled to the two or more measurement devices and configured to at least partially process the one or more output signals during use; and
a remote controller computer coupled to the local processor, wherein the remote controller computer is configured to receive the at least partially processed one or more output signals and to determine the at least two properties of the specimen from the at least partially processed one or more output signals during use, wherein the at least two properties comprise a thickness of a structure on the specimen and at least one additional property of the specimen, and wherein the two or more measurement devices are selected to provide the one or more output signals for different ranges of the thickness of the structure.
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66. A method for determining at least two properties of a specimen, comprising:
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disposing the specimen upon a stage, wherein the stage is coupled to two or more measurement devices;
generating one or more output signals with the two or more measurement devices, wherein the one or more output signals are responsive to the at least two properties of the specimen; and
processing the one or more output signals to determine the at least two properties of the specimen, wherein the at least two properties of the specimen comprise a thickness of a structure on the specimen and at least one additional property of the specimen, wherein the one or more output signals that are processed are selected to be the one or more output signals provided by one of the two or more measurement devices depending on the thickness of the structure, and wherein processing the one or more output signals comprises;
at least partially processing the one or more output signals using a local processor, wherein the local processor is coupled to the two or more measurement devices;
sending the at least partially processed one or more output signals from the local processor to a remote controller computer; and
further processing the at least partially processed one or more output signals using the remote controller computer.
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67. A system configured to determine at least two properties of a specimen, comprising:
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a first measurement device configured to measure a thickness and at least one additional property of a layer on the specimen; and
a second measurement device configured to measure the thickness and at least another additional property of the layer on the specimen, wherein the second measurement device comprises a photo-acoustic device, and wherein the first and second measurement devices are selected to provide measurements for different ranges of the thickness of the layer. - View Dependent Claims (68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73)
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Specification