Method and apparatus for high-speed thickness mapping of patterned thin films

A method for imaging a wafer having one or more film layers, comprising:

• illuminating the wafer with light;
• positioning the wafer so that a portion of the wafer is illuminated;
• detecting light reflected from the portion of the wafer using a spectral imager configured to produce a sequence of one-dimensional spectral frames while the spectral imager and the wafer undergo relative motion provided by a transfer mechanism moving the wafer between a plurality of stations;
• aggregating said sequence of one-dimensional spectral frames to form a two-dimensional spectral image, and analyzing said two-dimensional image to determine a property of the film layers.

A CMP system that images a wafer, comprising:

• a plurality of stations for performing one or more aspects of a CMP process;
• a wafer transfer mechanism disposed within the system to transfer the wafer between said stations;
• a light source for illuminating the wafer while the wafer transfer mechanism is transferring the wafer between the stations;
• a spectral imager disposed to detect light from the light source that is reflected from the wafer and configured to produce a plurality of one-dimensional spectral frames while said spectral imager and the wafer undergo relative motion provided by said wafer transfer mechanism;
• and
• circuitry for processing said plurality of one-dimensional spectral frames, wherein the circuitry aggregates sequential one-dimensional spectral frames to form a two-dimensional spectral image, and analyzes said two-dimensional spectral image to determine one or more properties of one or more film layers of the wafer.

A method for imaging a wafer having one or more film layers, comprising:

• illuminating the wafer with light;
• positioning the wafer so that a portion of the wafer is illuminated;
• detecting light reflected from the portion of the wafer using a spectral imager configured to produce a sequence of spatially contiguous one-dimensional spectral frames while said spectral imager and the wafer undergo relative motion provided by a transfer mechanism used to move wafers between stations;
• and
• aggregating said frames to form a two-dimensional spectral image.

A semiconductor wafer processing system that acquires and analyzes spectral images of a wafer prior to, during, and/or following a process, the system comprising:

• a plurality of stations;
• a wafer transfer mechanism disposed within the system to transfer the wafer between the stations;
• a light source for illuminating the wafer while the wafer is transferred between said stations;
• a spectral imager disposed to detect light from the light source that is reflected from the wafer, the spectral imager configured to produce a plurality of one-dimensional spectral frames while said spectral imager and the wafer undergo relative motion provided by said wafer transfer mechanism;
• and
• a processor for analyzing said plurality of one-dimensional spectral frames, wherein the processor aggregates sequential one-dimensional spectral frames to form two-dimensional spectral images.

A semiconductor wafer processing system that provides and analyzes spectral images of a wafer having one or more film layers prior to, during, and/or following a process, the system comprising:

• a wafer transfer mechanism disposed within the system to transfer the wafer between a load station and a wafer chuck;
• a light source for illuminating the wafer while the wafer is transferred between said load station and said wafer chuck;
• a spectral imager disposed to detect light reflected from the wafer and configured to produce a one-dimensional spectral frame while said spectral imager and the wafer undergo relative motion of transferring the wafer;
• and
• a processor that analyzes said one-dimensional frame.

A semiconductor wafer imaging system that acquires and analyzes spectral images of a wafer having one or more film layers, the system comprising:

• a first processing system that performs a first manufacturing process on the wafer;
• a second processing system that performs a second manufacturing process on the wafer, where said second manufacturing process follows said first manufacturing process;
• a wafer transfer mechanism disposed to transfer the wafer between said first processing system and said second processing system;
• a light source for illuminating the wafer while the wafer is transferred between said first processing system and said second processing system;
• a spectral imager disposed to detect light from the light source that is reflected from the wafer during the transfer, and configured to produce one-dimensional spectral frames;
• and
• circuitry for aggregating said one-dimensional spectral frames to form a two-dimensional spectral image and analyzing said two-dimensional spectral image to determine a film layer property of the one or more film layers.

A method of obtaining and analyzing a spectral image of a wafer having one or more film layers, the method comprising:

• securing the wafer from a first processing system using a transfer mechanism;
• illuminating the wafer with light from a light source;
• positioning the wafer using said transfer mechanism so that a portion of the wafer is illuminated by light from said light source;
• detecting light reflected from said portion of the wafer using a spectral imager configured to produce a sequence of contiguous one-dimensional spectral frames while said transfer mechanism moves the wafer;
• aggregating said sequence of contiguous one-dimensional spectral frames to form a two-dimensional spectral image;
• analyzing said two-dimensional image to determine one or more film layer properties of the one or more film layers;
• and
• transferring the wafer to a second processing system.