Method for characterizing a manufacturing process of semiconductor devices
A method of determining a characteristic of one or more processes for manufacturing features on a substrate, the method including: obtaining image data of a plurality of features on a least part of at least one region on a substrate; using the image data to obtain measured data of one or more dimensions of each of at least some of the plurality of features; determining a statistical parameter that is dependent on the variation of the measured data of one or more dimensions of each of at least some of the plurality of features; determining a probability of defective manufacture of features in dependence on a determined number of defective features in the image data; and determining the characteristic of the one or more processes to have the probability of defective manufacture of features and the statistical parameter.
1 . A method comprising:
obtaining a plurality of distributions of values of a performance parameter, each distribution of the values of the performance parameter is associated with a different processing condition of a device fabrication process configured to create a physical device;
deriving for each distribution of values of the performance parameter an indicator of a probability of the performance parameter being within a specified range to obtain a plurality of probability indicator values, each probability indicator value associated with a different processing condition;
determining, using a hardware computer, a desired processing condition based on a relation between the value of the probability indicator and the processing condition; and
configuring the device fabrication process based on the desired processing condition and/or providing a signal representing, or based on, the desired processing condition to a system for use in configuration of the device fabrication process.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the performance parameter is one or more selected from: critical dimension, edge placement error, overlay, local critical dimension uniformity, line edge roughness, line width roughness, image contrast or yield of the process.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the different processing conditions are selections from a vector or matrix of values of one or more process parameters.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the probability indicator is a percentage of measured or simulated samples comprised within a distribution of values of the performance parameter which meet a pre-defined criterion.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the desired processing condition is selected based on a processing condition associated with one or more values of one or more process parameters for which the probability indicator is close to, or equals, a minimum required probability value.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the processing condition relates to one or more selected from: focus, dose, optical aberration level of a projection system of a lithographic apparatus, overlay, and/or a dynamic condition associated with synchronization error between a patterning device and a substrate table.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the desired processing condition is selected based on one or more processing conditions associated with a maximum value of the probability indicator.
8 . A method comprising:
obtaining the relation between the value of the probability indicator and the processing condition using the method of claim 1 ;
obtaining substrate specific values of one or more parameters associated with the processing condition across at least part of the substrate; and
combining, using a hardware computer, the relation and the substrate specific values to determine a probability of failure of one or more device structures provided to the substrate across at least part of the substrate.
9 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising determining a yield metric representative for a fraction or number of yielding dies on the at least part of the substrate based on the probability of failure across at least part of the substrate and a selected threshold of the probability of failure.
10 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising determining an improved processing condition based on an expected improvement of the yield metric.
11 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the processing condition comprises values of an effective dose and focus deviation across at least part of the substrate.
12 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions therein that, when executed by a processor system, are configured to cause the processor to at least:
obtain a plurality of distributions of values of a performance parameter, each distribution of the values of the performance parameter is associated with a different processing condition of a device fabrication process configured to create a physical device;
derive for each distribution of values of the performance parameter an indicator of a probability of the performance parameter being within a specified range to obtain a plurality of probability indicator values, each probability indicator value associated with a different processing condition;
determine a desired processing condition based on a relation between the value of the probability indicator and the processing condition; and
cause configuration of the device fabrication process based on the desired processing condition and/or provide a signal representing, or based on, the desired processing condition to a system for use in configuration of the device fabrication process.
13 . The medium of claim 12 , wherein the performance parameter is one or more selected from: critical dimension, edge placement error, overlay, local critical dimension uniformity, line edge roughness, line width roughness, image contrast or yield of the process.
14 . The medium of claim 12 , wherein the probability indicator is a percentage of measured or simulated samples comprised within a distribution of values of the performance parameter which meet a pre-defined criterion.
15 . A method comprising:
obtaining a relation between i) a value of a probability indicator associated with a probability of a feature on a substrate having a dimension and/or position within a certain range and ii) a processing condition of a device fabrication process configured to create a physical device on the substrate;
obtaining substrate specific values of one or more parameters associated with the processing condition across at least part of the substrate;
combining, using a hardware computer, the relation and the substrate specific values to determine a probability of failure of one or more device structures provided to the substrate across at least part of the substrate; and
configuring the device fabrication process based on the desired processing condition and/or providing a signal representing, or based on, the desired processing condition to a system for use in configuration of the device fabrication process.
16 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising determining a yield metric representative for a fraction or number of yielding dies on the at least part of the substrate based on the probability of failure across at least part of the substrate and a selected threshold of the probability of failure.
17 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising determining an improved processing condition based on an expected improvement of the yield metric.
18 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the processing condition comprises values of an effective dose and focus deviation across at least part of the substrate.
19 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the processing condition relates to one or more selected from: focus, dose, optical aberration level of a projection system of a lithographic apparatus, overlay, and/or a dynamic condition associated with synchronization error between a patterning device and a substrate table.
20 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions therein that, when executed by a processor system, are configured to cause the processor to at least implement the method according to claim 15 .