Open AccessDetecting nanoscale contamination in semiconductor fabrication using through-focus scanning optical microscopy
Author(s) -
Min-Ho Rim,
Emil Agócs,
Ronald G. Dixson,
P. P. Kavuri,
András Vladár,
Ravikiran Attota
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of vacuum science and technology. b, nanotechnology and microelectronics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.429
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 2166-2754
pISSN - 2166-2746
DOI - 10.1116/6.0000352
Subject(s) - nanoscopic scale , scanning electron microscope , materials science , nanotechnology , fabrication , focus (optics) , microscopy , scanning ion conductance microscopy , scanning confocal electron microscopy , semiconductor , optical microscope , scanning capacitance microscopy , scanning probe microscopy , optics , optoelectronics , physics , medicine , alternative medicine , pathology , composite material
This paper reports high-throughput, light-based, through-focus scanning optical microscopy (TSOM) for detecting industrially relevant sub-50 nm tall nanoscale contaminants. Measurement parameter optimization to maximize the TSOM signal using optical simulations made it possible to detect the nanoscale contaminants. Atomic force and scanning electron microscopies were used as reference methods for comparison.