Methods and systems for measuring microroughness of a substrate combining particle counter and atomic force microscope measurements

A method for measuring the microroughness of a wafer surface, comprising the steps of:

• (a) preparing a haze map of the wafer surface using a particle counter having a X-Y stage coordinate system;
• (b) determining a first coordinate value associated with a position of a first point selected from the haze map;
• (c) determining a 2-dimensional localized area enclosing the first point;
• (d) determining a plurality of second coordinate values which define the localized area;
• (e) converting the first coordinate value and the plurality of second coordinate values into corresponding coordinate values on a X-Y stage coordinate system of an atomic force microscope (AFM) by coordinate linking, wherein the corresponding coordinate values enable the X-Y stage coordinate system of the AFM to locate the 2-dimensional localized area enclosing the first point;
• and
• (f measuring the microroughness of the wafer surface of the 2-dimensional localized area enclosing the first point using the AFM based on the corresponding coordinate values input to the X-Y stage coordinate system of the AFM.

A system for measuring roughness of a wafer surface comprising:

• a particle counter that measures at least a portion of the wafer surface to provide first measurements corresponding to a plurality of points on the wafer surface;
• an atomic force microscope (AFM) that measures a selected area of the wafer surface including one of the plurality of points to provide a microroughness measurement of the selected area, the selected area being a localized area of the at least a portion of the wafer surface measured by the particle counter;
• and
• a controller that maps the one of the plurality of points from a first coordinate system associated with the particle counter to the selected area in a second coordinate system associated with the AFM and provides the first measurements and the microroughness measurement as a measurement of the wafer surface.

A method for measuring roughness of a wafer surface comprising:

• measuring scattering of light from at least a portion of the wafer surface to provide a haze map including first measurements corresponding to a plurality of points on the wafer surface;
• measuring a selected area of the wafer surface including one of the plurality of points using an atomic force microscope (AFM) to provide a microroughness measurement of the selected area, the selected area being a localized area of the at least a portion of the wafer surface measured using a particle counter;
• and
• providing the first measurements and the microroughness measurement associated with the included one of the plurality of points as a measurement of the wafer surface.