Signal sectioning for profiling printed-circuit-bord vias with vertical scanning interferometry
AssigneeBruker Nano, Inc.
InventorsJoanna Schmit, Erik Novak
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The rough bottom surface of a recessed feature partially obscured by an overlying structure is profiled interferometrically with acceptable precision using an objective with sufficiently large numerical aperture to illuminate the bottom under the obscuring structure. The light scattering produced by the roughness of the surface causes diffused light to return to the objective and yield reliable data fringes. Under such appropriate numerical-aperture and surface roughness conditions, the bottom surface of such recessed features can be profiled correctly simply by segmenting the correlograms produced by the scan and processing all fringes that correspond to the bottom surface elevation.
Claims6
An optical method of measuring a surface of a recessed feature containing an overlying layer of material obscuring a portion of said surface of the feature, the method comprising the following steps:
- performing an optical through-focus measurement of the feature to produce surface information corresponding to said surface of the feature and layer information corresponding to the overlying layer and to said portion of the surface of the feature obscured by the overlying layer;
- segmenting said layer information to isolate recess information corresponding to said portion of the surface of the feature obscured by the overlying layer;
- and
- profiling the surface using said recess information corresponding to the portion of the surface of the feature obscured by the overlying layer in the feature;
- wherein said performing step is carried out with an objective having a numerical aperture and with said surface of the feature having a roughness so that an illuminating beam produces a diffusive reflection from said portion of the surface of the feature obscured by the overlying layer and said diffusive reflection is directed back to the objective.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.