Systems and methods for analyzing defects in CVD films

A semiconductor processing method comprising:

• depositing a film of silicon oxide on a substrate in a substrate processing chamber, wherein the silicon oxide film is characterized by a thickness of less than or about 50 Å;
• sampling for defects in the deposited silicon oxide film at greater than or about two non-contiguous regions of the substrate with scanning electron microscopy, wherein the defects are characterized by a size less than or about 10 nm;
• and
• adjusting at least one deposition parameter chosen from deposition temperature, deposition pressure, an amount of spacing between the substrate and a showerhead in the substrate processing chamber, and a flow rate ratio of two or more deposition precursors, wherein the adjustment to the at least one deposition parameter reduces the number of defects sampled in a subsequent deposition of the silicon oxide film.

A semiconductor processing system comprising:

• a deposition chamber to deposit a film of semiconductor material on a substrate in the deposition chamber;
• a defect sampling unit comprising a scanning electron microscope, wherein the defect sampling unit is operable to receive the substrate with the deposited film of semiconductor material and sample the substrate for defects in the deposited film at greater than or about two non-contiguous regions of the substrate;
• and
• a control unit in electronic communication with the deposition chamber to control one or more deposition parameters chosen from deposition temperature, deposition pressure, an amount of spacing between the substrate and a showerhead in the substrate processing chamber, and a flow rate ratio of two or more deposition precursors, wherein the control unit adjusts at least one of the deposition parameters in response to a number of defects in the deposited film of semiconductor material detected by the defect sampling unit so that a subsequent deposition of the film of semiconductor material has a reduced number of defects.