Method of electromagnetic modeling of finite structures and finite illumination for metrology and inspection

1. A computer implemented method of evaluating a diffracting structure, the method comprising:

providing a scatterometry model of the diffracting structure using an optical metrology system;

computing, with the optical metrology system, spectral information for the scatterometry model of the diffracting structure, including:

computing background electric or magnetic fields of an environment of the diffracting structure,

computing scattered electric or magnetic fields from the diffracting structure using a scattered field formulation based on the computed background fields, and

computing spectral information for the scatterometry model of the diffracting structure based on the computed scattered fields;

measuring spectral information for the diffracting structure using the optical metrology system, including illuminating the diffracting structure with a light source, and measuring spectral information for the diffracting structure with a detector;

comparing the computed spectral information for the scatterometry model with the measured spectral information for the diffracting; and

in response to a good model fit based on the comparison between the computed spectral information and the measured spectral information, determining a physical characteristic of the diffracting structure using the scatterometry model of the diffracting structure.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein computing the background electric or magnetic fields of the environment comprises computing electric or magnetic fields for free space.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein computing the background electric or magnetic fields of the environment comprises computing electric or magnetic fields of one or more films disposed under the diffracting structure.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein computing the background and scattered fields comprises computing the background and scattered fields for multiple angles of incidence at once.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein computed incident radiation comprises finite beam illumination or plane-wave incident illumination.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the diffracting structure comprises a periodic region and a non-periodic region;

computing the background fields of the environment comprises computing the background fields of the environment of the diffracting structure in the periodic region using rigorous coupled-wave analysis (RCWA); and

computing the scattered fields comprises computing the scattered fields from the diffracting structure in the non-periodic region using the scattered field formulation based on the computed background fields.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising determining fields of the periodic and non-periodic regions of the diffracting structure by applying domain decomposition to the fields for the periodic and non-periodic regions.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein computed incident radiation comprises coherent or partially coherent illumination.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

computing speckle fields and line edge roughness for the diffracting structure based on the coherent or partially coherent illumination.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein computing the background electric or magnetic fields at a given point comprises:

decomposing modeled incident illumination into a set of plane waves;

propagating the set of plane waves from a predetermined initial point to the given point; and

summing the propagated set of plane waves at the given point.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein decomposing the modeled incident illumination into the set of plane waves comprises a discrete decomposition.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein decomposing the modeled incident illumination into the set of plane waves comprises a continuous decomposition.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein providing the scatterometry model of the diffracting structure comprises discretizing the diffracting structure into a mesh.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein discretizing the diffracting structure into the mesh comprises refining the mesh in an area with a defect.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein subsequent model iterations comprise scaling the mesh.

16. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon which cause a computer to perform a method of evaluating a diffracting structure, the method comprising:

providing a scatterometry model for the diffracting structure using an optical metrology system;

computing, with the optical metrology system, spectral information for the scatterometry model of the diffracting structure, including:

computing background electric or magnetic fields of an environment of the diffracting structure,

computing scattered electric or magnetic fields from the diffracting structure using a scattered field formulation based on the computed background fields, and

computing spectral information for the scatterometry model of the diffracting structure based on the computed scattered fields;

measuring spectral information for the diffracting structure using the optical metrology system, including illuminating the diffracting structure with a light source, and measuring spectral information for the diffracting structure with a detector;

comparing the computed spectral information for the scatterometry model with the measured spectral information for the diffracting structure; and

in response to a good model fit based on the comparison between the computed spectral information and the measured spectral information, determining a physical characteristic of the diffracting structure using the scatterometry model of the diffracting structure.

17. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein computing the background electric or magnetic fields of the environment comprises computing electric or magnetic fields for free space.

18. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein computing the background electric or magnetic fields of the environment comprises computing electric or magnetic fields of one or more films disposed under the diffracting structure.

19. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein computing the background electric or magnetic fields at a given point comprises:

decomposing modeled incident illumination into a set of plane waves;

propagating the set of plane waves from a predetermined initial point to the given point; and

summing the propagated set of plane waves at the given point.

20. An optical measurement system comprising:

a light source to illuminate a diffracting structure;

a detector to measure spectral information for the diffracting structure;

first logic to receive the measured spectral information for the diffracting structure; and

second logic to:

provide a scatterometry model of the diffracting structure;

compute spectral information for the scatterometry model, including computing background electric or magnetic fields of an environment of the diffracting structure based on a model of the diffracting structure, computing scattered electric or magnetic fields from the diffracting structure using a scattered field formulation based on the computed background fields, and computing spectral information for the scatterometry model of the diffracting structure based on the computed scattered fields;

compare the computed spectral information for the scatterometry model with the measured spectral information for the diffracting structure; and

in response to a good model fit based on the comparison between the computed spectral information and the measured spectral information, determine a physical characteristic of the diffracting structure using the scatterometry model of the diffracting structure.

21. The optical measurement system of claim 20 , wherein the second logic is to compute the background electric or magnetic fields of the environment by computing electric or magnetic fields for free space.

22. The optical measurement system of claim 20 , wherein the second logic is to compute the background electric or magnetic fields of the environment by computing electric or magnetic fields of one or more films disposed under the diffracting structure.

23. The optical measurement system of claim 20 , wherein the second logic is to compute the background electric or magnetic fields at a given point by:

decomposing modeled incident illumination into a set of plane waves;

propagating the set of plane waves from a predetermined initial point to the given point; and

summing the propagated set of plane waves at the given point.