Granted Patent B2

US 12,197,137 · App. 18/520,244 · Granted Jan 14, 2025

Inventors: Franz Zach (Los Gatos, CA); Mark D. Smith (San Jose, CA); Xiaomeng Shen (Milpitas, CA); Jason Saito (Milpitas, CA); David Owen (Milpitas, CA)

Assignee: KLA Corporation

G03F7/70633G01B9/02021G01B11/16G01B11/161G01B11/24G01B11/2441G01N21/9501H01L21/67288H01L22/12H01L22/20

Abstract

Claims (48)

1. A wafer shape metrology system comprising:

a wafer shape metrology sub-system configured to perform one or more stress-free shape measurements on a first wafer and a second wafer; and

a controller communicatively coupled to the wafer shape metrology sub-system, the controller including one or more processors configured to execute a set of program instructions stored in a memory, the set of program instructions configured to cause the one or more processors to:

receive the one or more stress-free shape measurements for the first wafer and the second wafer from the wafer shape sub-system;

determine a first wafer shape distortion of the first wafer by comparing the first wafer shape to a first reference structure and determine a second wafer shape distortion of the second wafer by comparing the second wafer shape to a second reference structure;

predict overlay between one or more features on the first wafer and one or more features on the second wafer based on the one or more stress-free shape measurements of the first wafer and the second wafer, the first wafer shape distortion, and the second wafer shape distortion; and

provide a feedforward adjustment to one or more process tools based on the predicted overlay.

2. The wafer shape metrology system of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first reference structure or the second reference structure comprises an idealized flat plate.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the providing one or more feedforward control to one or more process tools based on the predicted overlay comprises:

providing one or more feedforward control signals to a bonder based on the predicted overlay.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the wafer shape metrology sub-system comprises a first interferometer sub-system and a second interferometer sub-system.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the predicting overlay between one or more features on the first wafer and one or more features on the second wafer based on the one or more stress-free shape measurements of the first wafer and the second wafer, the first shape distortion, and the second wafer shape distortion comprises:

extracting one or more wafer shape parameters from the one or more stress-free shape measurements of the first wafer and the second wafer.

6. The system of claim 5 , further comprising:

inputting the extracted one or more wafer shape parameters of the first wafer and the second wafer and the first shape distortion and the second wafer shape distortion into a mechanical model to predict overlay between one or more features on the first wafer and one or more features on the second wafer.

7. The system of claim 5 , wherein the extracted one or more wafer shape parameters comprises at least one of local shape curvature (LSC) or in-plane distortion (IPD).

8. The system of claim 5 , further comprising:

inputting the extracted one or more wafer shape parameters of the first wafer and the second wafer and the first shape distortion and the second wafer shape distortion into a machine learning algorithm to predict overlay between one or more features on the first wafer and one or more features on the second wafer.

9. The system of claim 8 , furthering comprising:

training the machine learning algorithm.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the training the machine learning algorithm comprises:

training the machine learning algorithm with infrared overlay data.

11. A system comprising:

a controller configured to receive wafer shape measurements from a wafer shape metrology sub-system, the controller including one or more processors configured to execute a set of program instructions stored in a memory, the set of program instructions configured to cause the one or more processors to:

receive one or more stress-free shape measurements for a first wafer and a second wafer from the wafer shape sub-system;

determine a first wafer shape distortion of the first wafer by comparing the first wafer shape to a first reference structure and determine a second wafer shape distortion of the second wafer by comparing the second wafer shape to a second reference structure;

predict overlay between one or more features on the first wafer and one or more features on the second wafer based on the one or more stress-free shape measurements of the first wafer and the second wafer, the first wafer shape distortion, and the second wafer shape distortion; and

provide a feedforward adjustment to one or more process tools based on the predicted overlay.

12. The wafer shape metrology system of claim 11 , wherein at least one of the first reference structure or the second reference structure comprises an idealized flat plate.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the providing one or more feedforward control to one or more process tools based on the predicted overlay comprises:

providing one or more feedforward control signals to a bonder based on the predicted overlay.

14. The system of claim 11 , wherein the wafer shape metrology sub-system comprises a first interferometer sub-system and a second interferometer sub-system.

15. The system of claim 11 , wherein the predicting overlay between one or more features on the first wafer and one or more features on the second wafer based on the one or more stress-free shape measurements of the first wafer and the second wafer, the first shape distortion, and the second wafer shape distortion comprises:

extracting one or more wafer shape parameters from the one or more stress-free shape measurements of the first wafer and the second wafer.

16. The system of claim 15 , further comprising:

inputting the extracted one or more wafer shape parameters of the first wafer and the second wafer and the first shape distortion and the second wafer shape distortion into a mechanical model to predict overlay between one or more features on the first wafer and one or more features on the second wafer.

17. The system of claim 15 , wherein the extracted one or more wafer shape parameters comprises at least one of local shape curvature (LSC) or in-plane distortion (IPD).

18. The system of claim 15 , further comprising:

inputting the extracted one or more wafer shape parameters of the first wafer and the second wafer and the first shape distortion and the second wafer shape distortion into a machine learning algorithm to predict overlay between one or more features on the first wafer and one or more features on the second wafer.

19. The system of claim 18 , furthering comprising:

training the machine learning algorithm.

20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the training the machine learning algorithm comprises:

training the machine learning algorithm with infrared overlay data.

21. A method comprising:

acquiring one or more stress-free shape measurements for a first wafer and a second wafer;

determining a first wafer shape distortion of the first wafer by comparing the first wafer shape to a first reference structure and determine a second wafer shape distortion of the second wafer by comparing the second wafer shape to a second reference structure;

predicting overlay between one or more features on the first wafer and one or more features on the second wafer based on the one or more stress-free shape measurements of the first wafer and the second wafer, the first wafer shape distortion, and the second wafer shape distortion; and

providing a feedforward adjustment to one or more process tools based on the predicted overlay.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (3)

References Cited (227)

Cited By (4)

US 12,481,223 US 12,644,696 US 12,645,152 US 12,674,662