# US 12,222,282 B2 · Semiconductor measurement apparatus > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,222,282 B2 - Document ID: US12222282B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 18/082,040 - Filed: 2022-12-15 - Published: 2023-11-23 - Granted: 2025-02-11 - Earliest claimed: 2022-12-15 - Assignees: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. - Applicants: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. - Inventors: Seoyeon Jeong; Seungwoo Lee; Inho Shin; Wookrae Kim; Myungjun Lee; Jaehwang Jung - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12222282B2 ## CPC - G01N 21/211: {Ellipsometry (optical thickness measurement G01B11/06)} - G01B 11/2441: {using interferometry} - G01N 21/956: Inspecting patterns on the surface of objects {(contactless testing of electronic circuits G01R31/308; testing currency G07D; manufacturing processes per se of semiconductor devices implementing a measuring step H10P74/20)} - G02B 27/283: {used for beam splitting or combining} - G01B 2210/56: Measuring geometric parameters of semiconductor structures, e.g. profile, critical dimensions or trench depth - G01N 21/9501: {Semiconductor wafers (manufacturing processes per se of semiconductor devices implementing a measuring step H10P74/20)} - G01N 2021/8845: {Multiple wavelengths of illumination or detection} - G01N 2021/8848: {Polarisation of light} - H10P 74/203: {Structural properties, e.g. testing or measuring thicknesses, line widths, warpage, bond strengths or physical defects} - G01N: INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES (measuring or testing apparatus or processes other than immunoassay, involving enzymes or microorganisms C12M, C12Q) - G01B: MEASURING LENGTH, THICKNESS OR SIMILAR LINEAR DIMENSIONS; MEASURING ANGLES; MEASURING AREAS; MEASURING IRREGULARITIES OF SURFACES OR CONTOURS - G02B: OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS - H10P: GENERIC PROCESSES OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF DEVICES COVERED BY CLASS H10 ## Abstract A semiconductor measurement apparatus includes an illumination unit configured to provide illumination light including linearly polarized light beams having different wavelengths, an optical unit including an objective lens configured to allow the illumination light to be incident on a sample, the optical unit being configured to transmit reflection light generated when the illumination light is reflected from the sample, a self-interference generator configured to self-interfere the reflection light transmitted from the optical unit and transmit the reflection light to a first image sensor, for each wavelength, and a controller. The controller is configured to process a measurement image output by the image sensor to divide the measurement image into a first image representing an intensity ratio of a polarization component of the reflection light and a second image representing a phase difference of the polarization component of the reflection light, for each wavelength. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A semiconductor measurement apparatus comprising: an illumination unit configured to select light having different wavelengths and provide the light as illumination light; an optical unit including a polarization generator configured to select a polarization state of the illumination light, an objective lens configured to allow the illumination light to be incident on a sample, and a beam splitter configured to transmit reflection light generated when the illumination light is reflected from the sample; a self-interference generator configured to self-interfere and transmit the reflection light transmitted from the beam splitter, for each wavelength; an image sensor configured to output a measurement image including an interference pattern of the reflection light on a back focal plane of the objective lens; and a controller configured to process the measurement image to determine a critical dimension of a structure included in a region of the sample on which the illumination light is incident, wherein the controller is configured to find regions of a plurality of interference components caused by self-interference corresponding to a wavelength selected by the illumination unit by transforming the measurement image into data in a two-dimensional frequency space, to obtain two-dimensional images divided for each wavelength on the back focal plane by inversely transforming data included in each of the regions of the plurality of interference components, and to determine critical dimensions of the structure using the two-dimensional images. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The semiconductor measurement apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to inversely transform the data included in each of the regions of the plurality of interference components to divide the data into a first image representing an intensity ratio of a polarization component of the reflection light and a second image representing a phase difference of the polarization component of the reflection light, for each wavelength. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The semiconductor measurement apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the first image and the second image include pixels, and each of the pixels includes a first component corresponding to a distance from an optical axis of light, and a second component corresponding to an angle from a reference axis parallel to a surface of the sample; and wherein the first component is determined by an incidence angle of the illumination light incident on the objective lens, and the second component is determined by an azimuthal angle of the illumination light incident on the objective lens. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The semiconductor measurement apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the self-interference generator includes a prism member and a polarization element. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The semiconductor measurement apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein the prism member is at least one of a Nomarski prism, a Wollaston prism, and a Rochon prism. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The semiconductor measurement apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the image sensor is configured to obtain the measurement image of the reflection light at an azimuthal angle between 0 degrees to 360 degrees, inclusive, through a single shutter operation. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The semiconductor measurement apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the illumination unit includes: a light source configured to emit light having a broadband wavelength; and a wavelength selector configured to select and output light having different wavelengths from the light with the broadband wavelength emitted from the light source. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The semiconductor measurement apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein the controller is configured to control the wavelength selector to adjust an intensity of the light having the different wavelengths selected by the wavelength selector. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The semiconductor measurement apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein the controller is configured to: analyze the measurement image in real time, and change a wavelength or the intensity of the light having the different wavelengths selected by the wavelength selector until periodicity or contrast of the interference pattern satisfies a reference value. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The semiconductor measurement apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the polarization generator is disposed between the illumination unit and the self-interference generator, and includes a polarizer configured to select the polarization state of the illumination light. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The semiconductor measurement apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to: identify a number of peaks of the plurality of interference components included in the regions of the plurality of inference components, classify each of the regions of the plurality of interference components as one of a normal region including one peak and an abnormal region including two or more peaks, the two or more peaks including a first peak and a second peak, the first peak being closer to a central portion of the abnormal region than the second peak, and remove the second peak of the abnormal region among the two or more peaks included in the abnormal region. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The semiconductor measurement apparatus as claimed in claim 11, wherein the controller is configured to replace data in the abnormal region including the second peak with data in the abnormal region not including the second peak. ### Claim 13 (depends on 11) The semiconductor measurement apparatus as claimed in claim 11, wherein the controller is configured to delete data in the abnormal region including the second peak. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The semiconductor measurement apparatus as claimed in claim 13, wherein a portion of the abnormal region including the second peak does not overlap a bandwidth of the first peak. ### Claim 15 (depends on 1) The semiconductor measurement apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein a surface of the image sensor is disposed at a conjugate position with respect to a position of the back focal plane. ### Claim 16 A semiconductor measurement apparatus comprising: an illumination unit configured to provide illumination light including light having different wavelengths; an optical unit including a polarization generator configured to select a polarization state of the illumination light, and an objective lens configured to allow the illumination light to be incident on a sample, the optical unit being configured to transmit reflection light generated when the illumination light is reflected from the sample; a self-interference generator configured to self-interfere the reflection light transmitted from the optical unit and transmit the reflection light to a first image sensor, for each wavelength; and a controller configured to process a measurement image output by the first image sensor to divide the measurement image into a first image representing an intensity ratio of a polarization component of the reflection light and a second image representing a phase difference of the polarization component of the reflection light, for each wavelength. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The semiconductor measurement apparatus as claimed in claim 16, wherein the controller is configured to: transform the measurement image into data in a two-dimensional frequency space, find, in the data in the two-dimensional frequency space, regions including a plurality of interference components generated by the reflection light self-interfered for each wavelength, inversely transform data included in each of the regions, and divide the data into the first image and the second image for each wavelength. ### Claim 18 (depends on 16) The semiconductor measurement apparatus as claimed in claim 16, wherein the optical unit includes a first beam splitter disposed adjacent to the objective lens and on which the illumination light is incident, and a second beam splitter disposed adjacent to the self-interference generator and from which the reflection light is split. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The semiconductor measurement apparatus as claimed in claim 18, further comprising: a second image sensor configured to image the reflection light split from the second beam splitter. ### Claim 20 A semiconductor measurement apparatus comprising: an image sensor configured to: divide reflection light generated when illumination light including a polarization component having different wavelengths is reflected from a sample into first and second polarization components in a polarization direction that are orthogonal to each other or have an arbitrary predetermined angle, for each wavelength, and output an interference pattern for self-interfering the first and second polarization components for each wavelength; and a controller configured to: find regions of a plurality of interference components caused by self-interference by transforming the interference pattern output by the image sensor into data in a two-dimensional frequency space, obtain two-dimensional images divided for each wavelength by transforming data included in each of the regions, and obtain, from the two-dimensional images, a first image representing an intensity ratio of the polarization component of the reflection light reflected from the sample, and a second image representing a phase difference of the polarization component of the reflective light reflected from the sample, for each wavelength.