Patent · US Active

Method and apparatus for determining the property of a structure, device manufacturing method

US10133192B2 · kind B2 · utility

3Cited by
1References
19Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateApr 21, 2017
Grant dateNov 20, 2018
Priority date
Expiry dateApr 21, 2037

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH01L22/12
  • WIPO fieldMeasurement
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

A structure of interest (T) is irradiated with radiation for example in the x-ray or EUV waveband, and scattered radiation is detected by a detector (19, 274, 908, 1012). A processor (PU) calculates a property such as linewidth (CD) or overlay (OV), for example by simulating (S16) interaction of radiation with a structure and comparing (S17) the simulated interaction with the detected radiation. The method is modified (S14a, S15a, S19a) to take account of changes in the structure which are caused by the inspection radiation. These changes may be for example shrinkage of the material, or changes in its optical characteristics. The changes may be caused by inspection radiation in the current observation or in a previous observation.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.