Patent · US Expired

Method and apparatus for measuring alignment of layers in photolithographic processes

US7349105B2 · kind B2 · utility

15Cited by
4References
18Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateSep 1, 2004
Grant dateMar 25, 2008
Priority date
Expiry dateNov 25, 2025

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG03F7/70633
  • WIPO fieldOptics
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

According to a first embodiment of the invention, a first and second reticle are used to form layers using a photolithographic process. The first and second reticles each include a grating positioned so that when the reticles are printed, the two gratings will at least partially overlap each other. The two gratings produce an interference pattern, which is used to measure overlay error.

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