IP Library Granted Patent US 10,551,325
Granted Patent B2
US 10,551,325 · App. 14/939,750 · Granted Feb 4, 2020

Systems for parsing material properties from within SHG signals

Inventors: Viktor Koldiaev (Morgan Hill, CA); Marc Christopher Kryger (Fountain Valley, CA); John Paul Changala (Tustin, CA); Jianing Shi (Sunnyvale, CA)
Assignee: FemtoMetrix, Inc.
G01N21/9501G01N2201/06113
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,551,325
App. No.
14/939,750
Granted
Feb 4, 2020
Kind
B2
Abstract

Semiconductor metrology systems based on directing radiation on a wafer, detecting second harmonic generated (SHG) radiation from the wafer and correlating the second harmonic generated (SHG) signal to one or more electrical properties of the wafer are disclosed. The disclosure also includes parsing the SHG signal to remove contribution to the SHG signal from one or more material properties of the sample such as thickness. Systems and methods described herein include machine learning methodologies to automatically classify obtained SHG signal data from the wafer based on an electrical property of the wafer.

Claims (20)

1. A system for characterizing a sample, comprising:

a second harmonic generation (SHG) metrology system, the SHG metrology system comprising:

an optical source configured to direct a beam of electro-magnetic radiation to a sample; and

an optical detector configured to detect a Second Harmonic Generation (SHG) signal from the sample,

wherein the detected SHG signal includes:

a first portion; and

a second portion, wherein the second portion is attributed to one or more material properties of the sample; and

a secondary analysis device separate from the SHG metrology system, the secondary analysis device configured to measure the one or more material properties of the sample; and

an electronic processing circuit configured to:

remove the second portion of the detected SHG signal from the detected SHG signal to obtain a parsed SHG signal data comprising the first portion of the detected SHG signal; and

estimate a characteristic of the sample from the parsed SHG signal data.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the secondary analysis device comprises at least one of: a reflectometer, a spectroscopic ellipsometer (SE), a CV-IV parametric analyzer, an Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICPMS), Vapor Phase decomposition (VPD)-ICPMS, a Total Reflection X-Ray Fluorescence (TXRF), a Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS), a Rutherford Backscattering (RBS), a Scanning/Tunneling Electron Microscope (SEM/TEM), Atomic Force Microscope (AFM), Brightfield/Darkfield Microscopy, Glow Discharge Optical Emission Spectroscopy (GD-OES), X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), or a microwave detected photoconductive decay (μ-PCD).

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more material properties of the sample includes at least one of: thickness of one or more layers of the sample or presence of a known artifact.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the characteristic of the sample estimated from the parsed SHG signal data includes one or more electrical properties of the sample.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the one or more electrical properties of the sample includes at least one of: local surface and subsurface metal; organic or inorganic contaminants; trap charge density; strain or doping levels.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the electronic processing circuit is configured to remove the second portion by:

adjusting the detected SHG signal by an amount of SHG signal that is expected from a sample having the measured one or more material properties.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein adjusting the detected SHG signal comprises dividing the detected SHG signal by an amount of SHG signal that is expected from a sample having the measured one or more material properties.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the electronic processing circuit is configured to remove the second portion by:

deconvoluting the detected SHG signal by an amount of SHG signal that is expected from a sample having the measured one or more material properties.

Assignments (5)
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Nov 4, 2024
From: FEMTOMETRIX, INC.
To: KNOBBE, MARTENS, OLSON & BEAR, LLP
Reel/Frame 069560/0973 →
CONSULTING SERVICES AGREEMENT Recorded Jun 30, 2016
From: KOLDIAEV, VIKTOR
To: FEMTOMETRIX, INC.
Reel/Frame 039218/0537 →
CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT TO CORRECT THE STATE OF INCORPORATION FROM NEVADA TO DELAWARE PREVIOUSLY RECORDED ON REEL 039034 FRAME 0135. ASSIGNOR(S) HEREBY CONFIRMS THE ASSIGNMENT. Recorded Jun 30, 2016
From: KOLDIAEV, VIKTOR; KRYGER, MARC; CHANGALA, JOHN
To: FEMTOMETRIX, INC.
Reel/Frame 039219/0152 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jun 28, 2016
From: KOLDIAEV, VIKTOR; KRYGER, MARC; CHANGALA, JOHN
To: FEMTOMETRIX, INC.
Reel/Frame 039034/0135 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jun 27, 2016
From: KRYGER, MARC CHRISTOPHER; CHANGALA, JOHN PAUL; SHI, JIANING
To: FEMTOMETRIX, INC.
Reel/Frame 039021/0293 →
Continuity (2)
Provisional Application 62078636 · Nov 12, 2014
Related Publication 20160131594A1 · May 12, 2016
Cited By (5)
US 12,241,924 US 12,510,491 US 12,553,708 US 12,562,333 US 12,601,778