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US 7,582,538 B2Granted
Method of overlay measurement for alignment of patterns in semiconductor manufacturing
AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
InventorsHsiao-Tzu Lu, Chin-Hsiang Lin, Hua-Shu Wu, Chia-Hsiang Lin, Kuei Shun Chen
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Abstract
A method for semiconductor manufacturing includes forming an overlay target having a pattern formed by a first mask layer and an adjacent layer. The overlay target is exposed to radiation. As a result, reflective beams can be detected from the pattern and the adjacent layer and the location of the pattern can be identified based on the reflective beams.
Claims29
A method for semiconductor manufacturing, comprising:
- forming an overlay target wherein the overlay target comprises a pattern formed by a feature and an adjacent dielectric layer, and wherein the forming the overlay target including adding a contrast enhancing material to at least one of the feature and the dielectric layer, wherein the contrast enhancing material increases a contrast between the feature and the dielectric layer;
- and
- exposing the overlay target to radiation, whereby the radiated overlay target is capable of reflecting beams by which a location of the overlay target can be identified.
A method for semiconductor manufacturing, comprising:
- forming an overlay target, wherein the overlay target comprises an outer figure for a figure-in-figure alignment pattern and an adjacent dielectric layer, wherein the outer figure comprises a plug including a conductive material;
- adding at least one contrast enhancing material to either the outer figure or the dielectric layer;
- exposing the overlay target to radiation;
- detecting first reflective beams and second reflective beams from the outer figure and the adjacent dielectric layer, respectively, wherein the first and second reflective beams are different;
- identifying the location of the outer figure based on the first and second reflective beams;
- and
- forming an inner figure for the figure-in-figure alignment pattern, wherein the inner figure and the outer figure are formed by two separate mask levels.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.