Shape measurement apparatus and shape measurement method

• US 8,310,536 B2
• Filed: 07/18/2008
• Issued: 11/13/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 07/18/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kobelco Research Institute Incorporated (Kobe Steel Limited)
• Original Assignee: Kobelco Research Institute Incorporated (Kobe Steel Limited)
• Inventors: Akamatsu, Masaru, Hashizume, Hidehisa, Nakai, Yasuhide
• Primary Examiner(s): Perungavoor, Sath V
• Assistant Examiner(s): Pe, Geepy
• Application Number:
  US12/452,230
• Publication Number:
  US 20100134615A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,579 Days
• Field of Search: 348/125, 348/126, 348/128, 348/133, 348/135, 348/137
• US Class Current: 348/135
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 11/2433 for measuring outlines by shadow casting
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/94 Investigating contamination, e.g. dust G01N21/85 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/9503 Wafer edge inspection

Abstract

An apparatus and method are provided for measuring the end surface of a disk-shaped semiconductor wafer based on its projection image, without the influence of contaminants on the end surface. A rotation supporting mechanism supports a wafer between a first supporting position rotated by +δrelative to a predetermined reference position and a second supporting position rotated by −δdegrees at two or more supporting positions. An image sensor picks up a projection image of the wafer'"'"'s end surface. An index value for the end surface is calculated for each of a plurality of obtained projection images. One representative value of the calculated index values or an aggregate value is obtained, and a shape measurement of the wafer'"'"'s end surface corresponding to the reference supporting position is derived. When the wafer'"'"'s radius and a chamfer width are set as r and k, δ≧cos⁻¹ ((r-k)/r) is satisfied.

Claims

1. A shape measurement apparatus comprising:

a light transmission element configured to transmit light to a chamfer processed end part of a disk-shaped measurement target from a direction substantially parallel to respective front and rear surfaces of the measurement target;

an image pickup device configured to pick up a projection image of an end surface of the measurement target from a direction opposite to the light transmitting direction;

a rotation supporting mechanism configured to rotatably support the measurement target in a circumferential direction thereof;

a rotation control device configured to support the measurement target by the rotation supporting mechanism in a range from a first supporting position rotated by a predetermined first set angle with respect to a predetermined reference supporting position to a second supporting position rotated by a predetermined second set angle having an opposite positive or negative sign with respect to the first set angle at two or more supporting positions including the first supporting position and the second supporting position;

an image pickup control device configured to pick up by the image pickup means the projection image of the end surface of the measurement target supported by the rotation control means at the two or more supporting positions;

an index value calculation device configured to calculate an index value of an end surface shape by executing a previously set image processing for each of a plurality of projection images obtained through a processing by the image pickup control device; and

a measurement value derivation device configured to derivate a measurement value for the shape of the end surface of the measurement target corresponding to the reference supporting position by selecting one representative value based on the plurality of index values calculated by the index value calculation device or calculating one aggregate value while following a previously set rule, wherein in a case where the first set angle is denoted by +δ

1 and the second set angle is denoted by −

δ

2, the δ

1 and the δ

2 satisfy the following expression;

δ

1≧

cos<sup>−

1</sup>((r−

k)/r)

δ

2≧

cos<sup>−

1</sup>((r−

k)/r)

r;

Radius of the measurement target

k;

Chamfer width of the end surface of the measurement target.

2. The shape measurement apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

the rotation control device supports the measurement target by the rotation supporting mechanism at three or more supporting positions including the reference supporting position, the first supporting position, and the second supporting position; and

the image pickup control device picks up by the image pickup means the projection image of the end surface of the measurement target supported at each of the three or more supporting positions by the rotation control device.

3. The shape measurement apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the previously set rule is any of a rule of selecting a median value, a smallest value, or a largest value among the plurality of the index values and a rule of calculating an average value for a previously set numbers of values in an order from a smaller one or a larger one among the plurality of index values.

6. The shape measurement apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the index value is any one of the chamfer width of the measurement target, a chamfer angle, and a chamfer radius.

13. The shape measurement apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the measurement target is a semiconductor wafer.

4. A shape measurement apparatus comprising:

a light transmission element configured to transmit light to a chamfer processed end part of a disk-shaped measurement target from a direction substantially parallel to respective front and rear surfaces of the measurement target;

an image pickup device configured to pick up a projection image of an end surface of the measurement target from a direction opposite to the light transmitting direction;

a rotation supporting mechanism configured to rotatably support the measurement target in a circumferential direction thereof;

a rotation control device configured to support the measurement target by the rotation supporting mechanism in a range from a first supporting position rotated by a predetermined first set angle with respect to a predetermined reference supporting position to a second supporting position rotated by a predetermined second set angle having an opposite positive or negative sign with respect to the first set angle at two or more supporting positions including the first supporting position and the second supporting position;

an image pickup control device configured to pick up by the image pickup device the projection image of the end surface of the measurement target supported by the rotation control device at the two or more supporting positions;

index value calculation device configured to calculate an index value of an end surface shape by executing a previously set image processing for each of a plurality of projection images obtained through a processing by the image pickup control device; and

measurement value derivation device configured to derivate a measurement value for the shape of the end surface of the measurement target corresponding to the reference supporting position by selecting one representative value based on the plurality of index values calculated by the index value calculation means or calculating one aggregate value while following a previously set rule, wherein the measurement target is a semiconductor wafer, and wherein in a case where the first set angle is denoted by +δ

1 and the second set angle is denoted by −

δ

2, the δ

1 and the δ

2 satisfy the following expression;

22.5≧

δ

1≧

cos<sup>−

1</sup>((r−

k)/r)

22.5≧

δ

2≧

cos<sup>−

1</sup>((r−

k)/r)

r;

Radius of the semiconductor wafer

k;

Chamfer width of the end surface of the semiconductor wafer where, k/r <

0.076.

5. The shape measurement apparatus according to claim 4, wherein in a case where the first set angle is denoted by +δ

1 and the second set angle is denoted by −

δ

2, the δ

1 and the δ

2 are respectively in a range between 2°

or larger and 22.5°

or smaller.

14. The shape measurement apparatus according to claim 4, wherein:

the rotation control device supports the measurement target by the rotation supporting mechanism at three or more supporting positions including the reference supporting position, the first supporting position, and the second supporting position; and

the image pickup control device picks up by the image pickup device the projection image of the end surface of the measurement target supported at each of the three or more supporting positions by the rotation control device.

15. The shape measurement apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the previously set rule is any of a rule of selecting a median value, a smallest value, or a largest value among the plurality of the index values and a rule of calculating an average value for a previously set numbers of values in an order from a smaller one or a larger one among the plurality of index values.

16. The shape measurement apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the index value is any one of the chamfer width of the measurement target, a chamfer angle, and a chamfer radius.

7. A shape measurement method comprising:

transmitting light by a light transmission element to a chamfer processed end part of a disk-shaped measurement target from a direction substantially parallel to respective front and rear surfaces of the measurement target;

picking up a projection image of an end surface of the measurement target by an image pickup device from a direction opposite to the light transmitting direction;

supporting the measurement target by a rotation supporting mechanism rotatably supporting the measurement target in a circumferential direction thereof in a range from a first supporting position rotated by a predetermined first set angle with respect to a predetermined reference supporting position to a second supporting position rotated by a predetermined second set angle having an opposite positive or negative sign with respect to the first set angle at two or more supporting positions including the first supporting position and the second supporting position;

picking up by the image pickup device a plurality of projection images of the end surface of the measurement target supported at the respective supporting positions;

recording image pickup data in a predetermined storage device;

calculating a plurality of index values of an end surface shape by executing a previously set image processing by a predetermined computation device for each of the plurality of projection images; and

executing a processing of deriving a measurement value for the shape of the end surface of the measurement target corresponding to the reference supporting position by a predetermined computation device by selecting one representative value based on the plurality of index values calculated by the index value calculation device or calculating one aggregate value while following a previously set rule, wherein in a case where the first set angle is denoted by +δ

1 and the second set angle is denoted by −

δ

2, the δ

1 and the δ

2 satisfy the following expression;

δ

1≧

cos<sup>−

1</sup>((r−

k)/r)

δ

2≧

cos<sup>−

1</sup>((r−

k)/r)

r;

Radius of the measurement target

k;

Chamfer width of the end surface of the measurement target.

8. The shape measurement method according to claim 7, wherein the measurement target is supported by the rotation supporting mechanism at three or more supporting positions including the reference supporting position, the first supporting position, and the second supporting position, and the projection image of the end surface of the measurement target supported at each of the three or more supporting positions is picked up by the image pickup device.

9. The shape measurement method according to claim 7, wherein the previously set rule is any of a rule of selecting a median value, a smallest value, or a largest value among the plurality of the index values and a rule of calculating an average value for a previously set numbers of values in an order from a smaller one or a larger one among the plurality of index values.

12. The shape measurement method according to claim 7, wherein the index value is any one of the chamfer width of the measurement target, a chamfer angle, and a chamfer radius.

17. The shape measurement apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the measurement target is a semiconductor wafer.

10. A shape measurement method comprising:

transmitting light by a light transmission element to a chamfer processed end part of a disk-shaped measurement target from a direction substantially parallel to respective front and rear surfaces of the measurement target;

picking up a projection image of an end surface of the measurement target by image pickup device from a direction opposite to the light transmitting direction;

supporting the measurement target by a rotation supporting mechanism rotatably supporting the measurement target in a circumferential direction thereof in a range from a first supporting position rotated by a predetermined first set angle with respect to a predetermined reference supporting position to a second supporting position rotated by a predetermined second set angle having an opposite positive or negative sign with respect to the first set angle at two or more supporting positions including the first supporting position and the second supporting position;

picking up by the image pickup device a plurality of projection images of the end surface of the measurement target supported at the respective supporting positions;

recording image pickup data in predetermined storage device;

calculating a plurality of index values of an end surface shape by executing a previously set image processing by predetermined computation device for each of the plurality of projection images; and

executing a processing of deriving a measurement value for the shape of the end surface of the measurement target corresponding to the reference supporting position by predetermined computation device by selecting one representative value based on the plurality of index values calculated by the index value calculation device or calculating one aggregate value while following a previously set rule, wherein the measurement target is a semiconductor wafer, and wherein in a case where the first set angle is denoted by +δ

1 and the second set angle is denoted by −

δ

2, the δ

1 and the δ

2 satisfy the following expression;

22.5≧

δ

1cos<sup>−

1</sup>((r−

k)/r)

22.5≧

δ

2cos<sup>−

1</sup>((r−

k)/r)

r;

Radius of the semiconductor wafer

k;

Chamfer width of the end surface of the semiconductor wafer where, k/r <

0.076.

11. The shape measurement method according to claim 10, wherein in a case where the first set angle is denoted by +δ

1 and the second set angle is denoted by −

δ

2, the δ

1 and the δ

2 are respectively in a range between 2°

or larger and 22.5°

or smaller.

18. The shape measurement method according to claim 10, wherein the measurement target is supported by the rotation supporting mechanism at three or more supporting positions including the reference supporting position, the first supporting position, and the second supporting position, and the projection image of the end surface of the measurement target supported at each of the three or more supporting positions is picked up by the image pickup device.

19. The shape measurement method according to claim 10, wherein the previously set rule is any of a rule of selecting a median value, a smallest value, or a largest value among the plurality of the index values and a rule of calculating an average value for a previously set numbers of values in an order from a smaller one or a larger one among the plurality of index values.

20. The shape measurement method according to claim 10, wherein the index value is any one of the chamfer width of the measurement target, a chamfer angle, and a chamfer radius.