Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090303482 | Enhanced Ovl dummy field enabling "on-the-fly" ovl measurement methods - A semiconductor wafer may include a dummy field configured to enable overlay measurements. The enhanced dummy field may include a plurality of encoding blocs that enable OVL measurements to be made throughout the enhanced dummy field. | 12-10-2009 |
20110069312 | METROLOGY SYSTEMS AND METHODS - Various metrology systems and methods are provided. | 03-24-2011 |
20110310388 | DISCRETE POLARIZATION SCATTEROMETRY - Systems and methods for discrete polarization scatterometry are provided. | 12-22-2011 |
20120033226 | OPTICS SYMMETRIZATION FOR METROLOGY - The present invention includes an illumination source, at least one illumination symmetrization module (ISM) configured to symmetrize at least a portion of light emanating from the illumination source, a first beam splitter configured to direct a first portion of light processed by the ISM along an object path to a surface of one or more specimens and a second portion of light processed by the ISM along a reference path, and a detector disposed along a primary optical axis, wherein the detector is configured to collect a portion of light reflected from the surface of the one or more specimens. | 02-09-2012 |
20130229661 | Metrology Systems and Methods - Various metrology systems and methods are provided. One metrology system includes a light source configured to produce a diffraction-limited light beam, an apodizer configured to shape the light beam in the entrance pupil of illumination optics, and optical elements configured to direct the diffraction-limited light beam from the apodizer to an illumination spot on a grating target on a wafer and to collect scattered light from the grating target. The metrology system further includes a field stop and a detector configured to detect the scattered light that passes through the field stop. In addition, the metrology system includes a computer system configured to determine a characteristic of the grating target using output of the detector. | 09-05-2013 |
20140111791 | PHASE CHARACTERIZATION OF TARGETS - Systems and methods are provided which derive target characteristics from interferometry images taken at multiple phase differences between target beams and reference beams yielding the interferometry images. The illumination of the target and the reference has a coherence length of less than 30 microns to enable scanning the phase through the coherence length of the illumination. The interferometry images are taken at the pupil plane and/or in the field plane to combine angular and spectroscopic scatterometry data that characterize and correct target topography and enhance the performance of metrology systems. | 04-24-2014 |
20140240951 | Systems for Providing Illumination in Optical Metrology - The disclosure is directed to systems for providing illumination to a measurement head for optical metrology. In some embodiments of the disclosure, illumination beams from a plurality of illumination sources are combined to deliver illumination at one or more selected wavelengths to the measurement head. In some embodiments of the disclosure, intensity and/or spatial coherence of illumination delivered to the measurement head is controlled. In some embodiments of the disclosure, illumination at one or more selected wavelengths is delivered from a broadband illumination source configured for providing illumination at a continuous range of wavelengths. | 08-28-2014 |
20150036142 | Metrology Systems and Methods - Various metrology systems and methods are provided. One metrology system includes a light source configured to produce a diffraction-limited light beam, an apodizer configured to shape the light beam in the entrance pupil of illumination optics, and optical elements configured to direct the diffraction-limited light beam from the apodizer to an illumination spot on a grating target on a wafer and to collect scattered light from the grating target. The metrology system further includes a field stop and a detector configured to detect the scattered light that passes through the field stop. In addition, the metrology system includes a computer system configured to determine a characteristic of the grating target using output of the detector. | 02-05-2015 |