Dynamic care areas

• US 8,781,781 B2
• Filed: 06/30/2011
• Issued: 07/15/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 07/30/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: KLA-Tencor Corporation (KLA Corporation)
• Original Assignee: KLA-Tencor Corporation (KLA Corporation)
• Inventors: Kulkarni, Ashok V., Chen, Chien-Huei Adam
• Primary Examiner(s): Bui, Bryan
• Application Number:
  US13/174,556
• Publication Number:
  US 20120029858A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,111 Days
• Field of Search: 702/108
• US Class Current: 702/108
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/41875 characterised by quality surveillance of production
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/45031 Manufacturing semiconductor wafers
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0297 Reconfiguration of monitoring system, e.g. use of virtual sensors; change monitoring method as a response to monitoring results
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 22/12 for structural parameters, e.g. thickness, line width, refractive index, temperature, warp, bond strength, defects, optical inspection, electrical measurement of structural dimensions, metallurgic measurement of diffusions electrical measurement of diffusions H01L22/14
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 22/20 Sequence of activities consisting of a plurality of measurements, corrections, marking or sorting steps
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/02 Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS]

Abstract

Various embodiments for determining dynamic care areas are provided. In one embodiment, a first inspection process is performed on a wafer after a first fabrication step has been performed on the wafer and before a second fabrication process has been performed on the wafer. One embodiment includes determining care areas for a second inspection process based on inspection results generated by the first inspection process. The second inspection process will be performed on the wafer after the second fabrication step has been performed on the wafer.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for determining care areas for inspection, comprising:

acquiring inspection results for a wafer generated by a first inspection process, wherein the first inspection process is performed on the wafer after a first fabrication step has been performed on the wafer and before a second fabrication step has been performed on the wafer;

determining care areas for a second inspection process based on the inspection results generated by the first inspection process, wherein the second inspection process will be performed on the wafer after the second fabrication step has been performed on the wafer, wherein the inspection results generated by the first inspection process comprise locations on the wafer of noise events, marginal defects, and detected defects detected in the first inspection process, wherein the care areas for the second inspection process are determined such that the care areas include at least some of the locations on the wafer of at least some of the noise events the marginal defects, and the detected defects detected in the first inspection process, and wherein said acquiring and said determining are performed using a computer system;

after the second fabrication step has been performed on the wafer, performing the second inspection process on the wafer using the determined care areas; and

determining if a noise event, a marginal defect, or a detected defect included in the inspection results generated by the first inspection process correlates to a defect detected in the determined care areas by the second inspection process.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising performing repeater analysis using the inspection results generated by the first inspection process, wherein said determining the care areas is performed based on results of the repeater analysis.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining design-based information for at least some of the noise events, marginal defects, and detected defects, and wherein determining the care areas is performed based on the design-based information.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein an inspection recipe for the second inspection process comprises first care areas, and wherein said determining the care areas comprises altering a sensitivity with which defects are detected in at least some of the first care areas.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein an inspection recipe for the second inspection process comprises first care areas, and wherein said determining the care areas comprises altering a sensitivity with which defects are detected in at least some of the first care areas based on the inspection results generated by the first inspection process and criticalities of the first care areas.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein an inspection recipe for the second inspection process comprises first care areas, and wherein said determining the care areas comprises generating second care areas for the second inspection process that are different than the first care areas.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein an inspection recipe for the second inspection process comprises first care areas, and wherein the second inspection process is performed using the first care areas and the determined care areas.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second inspection processes are performed on the same inspection tool.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second inspection processes are performed on different inspection tools.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is performed on a per wafer basis.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining care areas for an additional inspection process based on the inspection results generated by the first inspection process, wherein the additional inspection process is performed on the wafer before the second fabrication step and at a higher resolution than the first inspection process.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising classifying defects detected on the wafer by the first and additional inspection processes based on the inspection results generated by the first inspection process and results of the additional inspection process.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising reviewing defects on the wafer based on the inspection results generated by the first inspection process using a first review process and determining a sampling plan for a second review process based on results of the first review process.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising reviewing defects on the wafer based on the inspection results generated by the first inspection process using a first review process and determining a sampling plan for a second review process based on results of the first review process and stored output of the first inspection process.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing program instructions stored therein for causing a computer system to perform a computer-implemented method for determining care areas for inspection, wherein the computer-implemented method comprises:

acquiring inspection results for a wafer generated by a first inspection process, wherein the first inspection process is performed on the wafer after a first fabrication step has been performed on the wafer and before a second fabrication step has been performed on the wafer;

determining care areas for a second inspection process based on the inspection results generated by the first inspection process, wherein the second inspection process will be performed on the water after the second fabrication step has been performed on the wafer, wherein the inspection results generated by the first inspection process comprise locations on the wafer of noise events, marginal defects, and detected defects detected in the first inspection process, and wherein the care areas for the second inspection process are determined such that the care areas include at least some of the locations on the wafer of at least some of the noise events, the marginal defects, and the detected defects detected in the first inspection process;

after the second fabrication step has been performed on the wafer, performing the second inspection process on the wafer using the determined care areas; and

determining if a noise event, a marginal defect, or a detected defect included in the inspection results generated by the first inspection process correlates to a defect detected in the determined care areas by the second inspection process.

16. A system configured to determine care areas for inspection, comprising:

one or more inspection subsystems configured to generate inspection results for a wafer by performing a first inspection process, wherein the first inspection process is performed on the wafer after a first fabrication step has been performed on the wafer and before a second fabrication process has been performed on the wafer; and

one or more computer configured to determine care areas for a second inspection process based on the inspection results generated by the first inspection process, wherein the second inspection process will be performed on the water after the second fabrication step has been performed on the wafer, wherein the inspection results generated by the first inspection process comprise locations on the wafer of noise events, marginal defects, and detected defects detected in the first inspection process, and wherein the care areas for the second inspection process are determined such that the care areas include at least some of the locations on the wafer of at least some of the noise events, the marginal defects, and the detected defects detected in the first inspection process;

wherein after the second fabrication step has been performed on the wafer, the one or more inspection subsystems are configured to perform the second inspection process on the wafer using the determined care areas; and

wherein the one or more computer subsystems are further configured to determine if a noise event, a marginal defect, or a detected defect included in the inspection result generated by the first inspection process correlates to a defect detected in the determined care areas by the second inspection process.