Method to predict yield of a device manufacturing process

A method of determining a value of a control parameter for a process involving lithographic processing of substrates, the method comprising:

• obtaining values of the control parameter across a substrate;
• obtaining values of a yield parameter across the substrate;
• correlating, by a hardware computer system, the values of the yield parameter to the values of the control parameter to obtain a model spatially defined across at least part of a substrate relating control parameter values to expected yield parameter values;
• and
• determining the value of the control parameter based on the model, and an expected margin for the value of the control parameter associated with the process.

A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions therein, the instructions, upon execution by a processor system, configured to cause the processor system to at least:

• determine a sensitivity of an electrical characteristic of one or more substrates subject to a process to a process characteristic, based on analysis of electrical metrology data comprising electrical characteristic measurements taken from previously processed substrates and of process metrology data comprising measurements of at least one parameter related to the process characteristic taken from the previously processed substrates, wherein the determination of the sensitivity of the electrical characteristic to the process characteristic comprises use of a function mapping a property of the process metrology data to a property of the electrical metrology data, the property of the process metrology data comprising a fingerprint of the at least one parameter across a substrate, the fingerprint relating different values for the at least one parameter to different regions across at least part of the substrate;
• obtain process metrology data related to locations, on a substrate, associated with a particular relevance for yield of the process, the process metrology data describing the at least one parameter;
• and
• predict the electrical characteristic of a substrate subject to a process at the critical locations based on the sensitivity and the process metrology data.

A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions therein, the instructions, upon execution by a processor system, configured to cause the processor system to at least:

• obtain values of a control parameter for a process involving lithographic processing of substrates, across a substrate;
• obtain values of a yield parameter across the substrate;
• correlate the values of the yield parameter to the values of the control parameter to obtain a model spatially defined across at least part of a substrate relating control parameter values to expected yield parameter values;
• and
• determine a value of the control parameter based on the model, and an expected margin for the value of the control parameter associated with the process.