Measurement system cluster
AssigneeTokyo Electron Limited
InventorTalat Fatima Hasan
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Systems and methods are disclosed for measuring semiconductor wafers in a fabrication process using one or more of a plurality of measurement systems. A measurement system cluster is provided having a plurality of such measurement systems, along with a system for transferring wafers to one or more of the measurement systems according to one or more selection criteria. Measurement systems may be selected for use based on availability and throughput capabilities, whereby overall system throughput and efficiency may be improved within the required accuracy capabilities required for measuring process parameters associated with the wafers.
Claims36
A measurement system cluster for measuring process parameters associated with wafers in a semiconductor fabrication process, comprising:
- first and second measurement systems having first and second measurement instruments, respectively, wherein the first and second measurement instruments are operative to measure at least one process parameter associated with a wafer;
- and
- a wafer transfer system receiving a wafer processed in the fabrication process and selectively providing the wafer to at least one of the first and second measurement systems according to a measurement system selection criteria for measurement therein of a process parameter.
A wafer inspection system for inspecting a wafer in a semiconductor device fabrication process, comprising:
- a measurement system having a measurement instrument operative to measure at least one process parameter associated with a wafer;
- and
- an optical character recognition system providing a wafer identification according to at least one optically recognizable character on the wafer.
A method of measuring a process parameter associated with a wafer in a semiconductor fabrication process, comprising:
- receiving the wafer from the fabrication process;
- selectively providing the wafer to at least one of first and second measurement systems according to a measurement system selection criterion;
- and
- measuring the process parameter using the at least one of the first and second measurement systems.
A system for creating setup information for use in measuring process parameters associated with semiconductor wafers in a semiconductor device manufacturing process, comprising:
- an off-line measurement instrument adapted to measure a wafer;
- and
- a setup information generator operatively associated with the off-line measurement instrument to create setup information according to a measurement therefrom and to provide the setup information to a process measurement system associated with the semiconductor device manufacturing process;
- wherein the setup information is usable by the process measurement system to measure process parameters associated with semiconductor wafers in the semiconductor device manufacturing process.
A method of operating a scatterometer in conjunction with a scanning electron microscope (SEM) to evaluate the geometry of features on a semiconductor sample comprising the steps of:
- measuring a set of reference samples with the scatterometer and computationally determining numerical values for feature characteristics;
- measuring the set of reference samples with the SEM and physically determining numerical values for feature characteristics;
- defining a correlation function relating the computational derived values with the physically derived values;
- and
- measuring a test sample with the scatterometer and computationally determining numerical values for the feature characteristics, said numerical values being adjusted in accordance with the correlation function.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.