# US 7,612,873 B2 · Surface form measuring apparatus and stress measuring apparatus and surface form measuring method and stress measuring method > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 7,612,873 B2 - Document ID: US7612873B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 11/979,116 - Filed: 2007-10-31 - Published: 2008-05-15 - Granted: 2009-11-03 - Earliest claimed: 2006-11-13 - Assignees: Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd. - Inventors: Kumiko Akashika; Masahiro Horie - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US7612873B2 ## CPC - G01B 11/0625: {with measurement of absorption or reflection} - G01L 5/0047: {measuring forces due to residual stresses} - G01B: MEASURING LENGTH, THICKNESS OR SIMILAR LINEAR DIMENSIONS; MEASURING ANGLES; MEASURING AREAS; MEASURING IRREGULARITIES OF SURFACES OR CONTOURS - G01L: MEASURING FORCE, STRESS, TORQUE, WORK, MECHANICAL POWER, MECHANICAL EFFICIENCY, OR FLUID PRESSURE (weighing G01G) ## Abstract In a stress measuring apparatus, reflected light of light emitted to a substrate through an objective lens is received by a light shielding pattern imaging part, to acquire an image of a light shielding pattern positioned at an aperture stop part of an optical system. A control part obtains gradient vectors of the substrate in a plurality of gradient vector measurement areas and surface form of the substrate on the basis of outputs of the light shielding pattern imaging part, to obtain a stress in a film formed on the substrate. Since light directed through the objective lens becomes approximately parallel rays of light on the substrate, measurement can be performed without focusing on each gradient vector measurement area and the surface form of the substrate can be obtained easily and rapidly. Consequently, it is possible to obtain a stress in the film formed on the substrate easily and rapidly. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A surface form measuring apparatus for measuring surface form of an object, comprising: a light source for emitting a light; an optical system for directing said light emitted from said light source to an irradiation region on an object through an objective lens and directing a reflected light reflected on said irradiation region to a predetermined position through said objective lens; a light shielding pattern positioned at a position almost optically conjugate to an aperture stop position on an optical path from said light source to said irradiation region; an imaging part for acquiring an image of said light shielding pattern formed on said predetermined position; a gradient vector calculation part for obtaining a gradient vector indicating a normal direction of said irradiation region on the basis of an output of said imaging part; a moving mechanism for moving said irradiation region relatively to said object; and a surface form calculation part for obtaining surface form of said object on the basis of gradient vectors in a plurality of areas on said object, said gradient vectors being obtained by said gradient vector calculation part. ### Claim 2 A stress measuring apparatus for measuring a stress in a film formed on an object, comprising; a light source for emitting a light; an optical system for directing said light emitted from said light source to an irradiation region on an object through an objective lens and directing a reflected light reflected on said irradiation region to a predetermined position through said objective lens; a light shielding pattern positioned at a position almost optically conjugate to an aperture stop position on an optical path from said light source to said irradiation region; an imaging part for acquiring an image of said light shielding pattern formed on said predetermined position; a gradient vector calculation part for obtaining a gradient vector indicating a normal direction of said irradiation region on the basis of an output of said imaging part; a moving mechanism for moving said irradiation region relatively to said object; a surface form calculation part for obtaining surface form of said object on the basis of gradient vectors in a plurality of areas on said object, said gradient vectors being obtained by said gradient vector calculation part; a curvature radius calculation part for obtaining a radius of curvature of a stress measurement area on said object on the basis of said surface form obtained by said surface form calculation part; a film thickness measuring part for optically measuring a thickness of a film formed on said object; and a stress calculation part for obtaining a stress in said film of said stress measurement area on the basis of said radius of curvature and said thickness of said film in said stress measurement area which are obtained by said curvature radius calculation part and said film thickness measuring part. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The stress measuring apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said film thickness measuring part comprises: a light receiving part for receiving said reflected light reflected on said irradiation region; and a film thickness calculation part for obtaining a thickness of said film in said irradiation region by spectroscopic reflectometry on the basis of an output of said light receiving part. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The stress measuring apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising: a holding part for holding said object; a distance detection part for detecting a distance between said objective lens and said holding part where an object is not held and a distance between said objective lens and said object held by said holding part with use of a light directed through said objective lens; and an object thickness calculation part for obtaining a thickness of said object on the basis of said distance between said objective lens and said object and said distance between said objective lens and said holding part, said thickness of said object being used in calculation of a stress in said film by said stress calculation part. ### Claim 5 (depends on 3) The stress measuring apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said film thickness measuring part further comprises: a light source unit which has another light source and emits a polarized light to said object; a light receiving unit which receives a reflected light of said polarized light reflected on said object to acquire a polarization state of said reflected light; and a film thickness calculation part for obtaining a thickness of said film formed on said object on the basis of said polarization state acquired by said light receiving unit. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The stress measuring apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising: a holding part for holding said object; a distance detection part for detecting a distance between said objective lens and said holding part where an object is not held and a distance between said objective lens and said object held by said holding part with use of a light directed through said objective lens; and an object thickness calculation part for obtaining a thickness of said object on the basis of said distance between said objective lens and said object and said distance between said objective lens and said holding part, said thickness of said object being used in calculation of a stress in said film by said stress calculation part. ### Claim 7 (depends on 2) The stress measuring apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said film thickness measuring part further comprises: a light source unit which has another light source and emits a polarized light to said object; a light receiving unit which receives a reflected light of said polarized light reflected on said object to acquire a polarization state of said reflected light; and a film thickness calculation part for obtaining a thickness of said film formed on said object on the basis of said polarization state acquired by said light receiving unit. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The stress measuring apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising: a holding part for holding said object; a distance detection part for detecting a distance between said objective lens and said holding part where an object is not held and a distance between said objective lens and said object held by said holding part with use of a light directed through said objective lens; and an object thickness calculation part for obtaining a thickness of said object on the basis of said distance between said objective lens and said object and said distance between said objective lens and said holding part, said thickness of said object being used in calculation of a stress in said film by said stress calculation part. ### Claim 9 (depends on 2) The stress measuring apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: a holding part for holding said object; a distance detection part for detecting a distance between said objective lens and said holding part where an object is not held and a distance between said objective lens and said object held by said holding part with use of a light directed through said objective lens; and an object thickness calculation part for obtaining a thickness of said object on the basis of said distance between said objective lens and said object and said distance between said objective lens and said holding part, said thickness of said object being used in calculation of a stress in said film by said stress calculation part. ### Claim 10 A surface form measuring method of measuring surface form of an object, comprising the steps of: a) applying a light emitted from a light source to an irradiation region on an object through an optical system having an objective lens; b) directing a reflected light of said light reflected on said irradiation region to a predetermined position through said objective lens, to form an image of a light shielding pattern on said predetermined position and acquire said image by an imaging part, said light shielding pattern being positioned at a position almost optically conjugate to an aperture stop position on an optical path from said light source to said irradiation region; c) repeating said steps a) and b) while moving said irradiation region relatively to said object to obtain gradient vectors indicating a normal direction of a plurality of areas on said object on the basis of outputs of said imaging part; and d) obtaining surface form of said object on the basis of said gradient vectors in said plurality of areas. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The surface form measuring method according to claim 10, wherein relative movement of said irradiation region to said object is continuously performed in said step c). ### Claim 12 A stress measuring method of measuring a stress in a film formed on an object, comprising the steps of; a) applying a light emitted from a light source to an irradiation region on an object through an optical system having an objective lens; b) directing a reflected light of said light reflected on said irradiation region to a predetermined position through said objective lens, to form an image of a light shielding pattern on said predetermined position and acquire said image by an imaging part, said light shielding pattern being positioned at a position almost optically conjugate to an aperture stop position on an optical path from said light source to said irradiation region; c) repeating said steps a) and b) while moving said irradiation region relatively to said object to obtain gradient vectors indicating a normal direction of a plurality of areas on said object on the basis of outputs of said imaging part; d) obtaining surface form of said object on the basis of said gradient vectors in said plurality of areas; e) obtaining a radius of curvature of a stress measurement area on said object on the basis of said surface form; f) optically measuring a thickness of a film in said stress measurement area; and g) obtaining a stress in said film of said stress measurement area on the basis of said radius of curvature and said thickness of said film in said stress measurement area. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The stress measuring method according to claim 12, wherein relative movement of said irradiation region to said object is continuously performed in said step c). ### Claim 14 (depends on 12) The stress measuring method according to claim 12, wherein said step f) comprises the steps of: h) applying said light emitted from said light source to said stress measurement area; i) receiving a reflected light reflected on said stress measurement area of said light to acquire spectral intensity of said reflected light; and j) obtaining a thickness of said film in said stress measurement area by spectroscopic reflectometry on the basis of said spectral intensity of said reflected light acquired in said step i). ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The stress measuring method according to claim 14, further comprising, before said step g), the steps of: k) detecting a distance between said objective lens and a holding part for holding said object with use of a light directed through said objective lens; l) detecting a distance between said objective lens and said object held by said holding part with use of a light directed through said objective lens; and m) obtaining a thickness of said object which is used in calculation of a stress in said film in said step g), on the basis of distances detected in said steps k) and l). ### Claim 16 (depends on 12) The stress measuring method according to claim 12, wherein said step f) comprises the steps of: n) applying a polarized light emitted from another light source to said stress measurement area; o) receiving a reflected light of said polarized light reflected on said stress measurement area to acquire a polarization state of said reflected light; and p) obtaining a thickness of said film in said stress measurement area on the basis of said polarization state of said reflected light acquired in said step o). ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The stress measuring method according to claim 16, further comprising, before said step g), the steps of: k) detecting a distance between said objective lens and a holding part for holding said object with use of a light directed through said objective lens; l) detecting a distance between said objective lens and said object held by said holding part with use of a light directed through said objective lens; and m) obtaining a thickness of said object which is used in calculation of a stress in said film in said step g), on the basis of distances detected in said steps k) and l). ### Claim 18 (depends on 12) The stress measuring method according to claim 12, further comprising, before said step g), the steps of: k) detecting a distance between said objective lens and a holding part for holding said object with use of a light directed through said objective lens; l) detecting a distance between said objective lens and said object held by said holding part with use of a light directed through said objective lens; and m) obtaining a thickness of said object which is used in calculation of a stress in said film in said step g), on the basis of distances detected in said steps k) and l). ### Claim 19 (depends on 13) The stress measuring method according to claim 13, wherein said step f) comprises the steps of: h) applying said light emitted from said light source to said stress measurement area; i) receiving a reflected light reflected on said stress measurement area of said light to acquire spectral intensity of said reflected light; and j) obtaining a thickness of said film in said stress measurement area by spectroscopic reflectometry on the basis of said spectral intensity of said reflected light acquired in said step i). ### Claim 20 (depends on 13) The stress measuring method according to claim 13, wherein said step f) comprises the steps of: n) applying a polarized light emitted from another light source to said stress measurement area; o) receiving a reflected light of said polarized light reflected on said stress measurement area to acquire a polarization state of said reflected light; and p) obtaining a thickness of said film in said stress measurement area on the basis of said polarization state of said reflected light acquired in said step o).