Wafer fab mask qualification techniques and limitations

Andre Poock; Stephanie Maelzer; Chris Spence; Cyrus Tabery; Michael Lang; Guido Schnasse; Milko Peikert; Kaustuve Bhattacharyya

doi:10.1117/12.692525

20 October 2006 Wafer fab mask qualification techniques and limitations

Andre Poock, Stephanie Maelzer, Chris Spence, Cyrus Tabery, Michael Lang, Guido Schnasse, Milko Peikert, Kaustuve Bhattacharyya

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 6349, Photomask Technology 2006; 63490U (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.692525
Event: SPIE Photomask Technology, 2006, Monterey, California, United States

Abstract

Mask inspection and qualification is a must for wafer fabs to ensure and guarantee high and stable yields. Single defect events can easily cause a million dollar loss through a defect duplicating onto the wafer. Several techniques and methods for mask qualification within a wafer fab are known but not all of them are neither used nor understood regarding their limitations. Increasing effort on existing tool platforms is necessary to detect the defects of interest which are at the limit of the tools specification - On the other hand next generation tools are very sensitive and therefore consume only a negligible amount of time for recipe optimization. Knowing the limits of each inspection tool helps to balance between effort and benefit. Masks with programmed defects of 90nm and 65nm design rule were used in order to compare the different available inspection techniques. During the course of this technical work, the authors concentrate mainly on two inspection techniques. The first one inspects the reticle itself using KLA-Tencor's SLF27 (TeraStar) and SL536 (TeraScan) tools. As the reticle gets inspected itself this is the so called "direct" mask defect inspection. The second inspection technique discussed is the "indirect" mask defect inspection which consists of printing the pattern on a blank wafer and use KLA-Tencor's bright-field wafer inspection tool (2xxx series) to inspect the wafer. Data of this work will include description of the techniques, inspection results, defect maps, sensitivity analysis, effort estimation as well as limitations for both techniques for the used design rule.

Citation Download Citation

Andre Poock, Stephanie Maelzer, Chris Spence, Cyrus Tabery, Michael Lang, Guido Schnasse, Milko Peikert, and Kaustuve Bhattacharyya "Wafer fab mask qualification techniques and limitations", Proc. SPIE 6349, Photomask Technology 2006, 63490U (20 October 2006); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.692525

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available