Method and system for automatically detecting exposed substrates having a high probability for defocused exposure fields

US7618755B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. · US

Inventors

• Uwe Schulze · Dresden, DE
• Jens Krause · Rahden, DE
• Rolf Seltmann · Dresden, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: May 23, 2006
• Grant date: Nov 17, 2009
• Expiry date: Jan 11, 2028

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G03F7/70533
• WIPO field: Optics
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

By automatically estimating the focus status of individual substrates or lots on the basis of focus-specific tool information obtained from the exposure tool, such as tilt angle ranges used during the automatic focusing procedures, possible hot spot errors may be detected highly efficiently prior to releasing the substrates to a subsequent etch process. Consequently, yield losses may be reduced. Moreover, possible error sources for hot spot errors may be identified.