9nm node wafer defect inspection using visible light

Abstract

Over the past 2 years, we have developed a common optical-path, 532 nm laser epi-illumination diffraction phase microscope (epi-DPM) and successfully applied it to detect different types of defects down to 20 by 100 nm in a 22nm node intentional defect array (IDA) wafer. An image post-processing method called 2DISC, using image frame 2nd order differential, image stitching, and convolution, was used to significantly improve sensitivity of the measured images. To address 9nm node IDA wafer inspection, we updated our system with a highly stable 405 nm diode laser. By using the 2DISC method, we detected parallel bridge defects in the 9nm node wafer. To further enhance detectability, we are exploring 3D wafer scanning, white-light illumination, and dark-field inspection. © 2014 SPIE.