IP Library › Granted Patent US 11,428,521
Granted Patent B2
US 11,428,521 · App. 17/519,641 · Granted Aug 30, 2022

Metrology method, target and substrate

Inventors: Kaustuve Bhattacharyya (Veldhoven, NL); Henricus Wilhelmus Maria Van Buel ('s-Hertogenbosch, NL); Christophe David Fouquet (Retie, BE); Hendrik Jan Hidde Smilde (Veldhoven, NL); Maurits Van der Schaar (Eindhoven, NL); Arie Jeffrey Den Boef (Waalre, NL); Richard Johannes Franciscus Van Haren (Waalre, NL); Xing Lan Liu (Veldhoven, NL); Johannes Marcus Maria Beltman (Knegsel, NL); Andreas Fuchs (Meerbusch, DE); Omer Abubaker Omer Adam (Eindhoven, NL); Michael Kubis (Meerbusch, DE); Martin Jacobus Johan Jak ('s-Hertogenbosch, NL)
Assignee: ASML Netherlands B.V.
G01B11/14G03F7/70633G03F7/70683
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,428,521
App. No.
17/519,641
Granted
Aug 30, 2022
Kind
B2
Abstract

A diffraction measurement target that has at least a first sub-target and at least a second sub-target, and wherein (1) the first and second sub-targets each include a pair of periodic structures and the first sub-target has a different design than the second sub-target, the different design including the first sub-target periodic structures having a different pitch, feature width, space width, and/or segmentation than the second sub-target periodic structure or (2) the first and second sub-targets respectively include a first and second periodic structure in a first layer, and a third periodic structure is located at least partly underneath the first periodic structure in a second layer under the first layer and there being no periodic structure underneath the second periodic structure in the second layer, and a fourth periodic structure is located at least partly underneath the second periodic structure in a third layer under the second layer.

Claims (48)

1. A method comprising:

illuminating a first sub-target of a measurement target on a substrate with radiation having a first wavelength, and illuminating a second sub-target of the measurement target on the substrate with radiation having a second wavelength,

wherein the first wavelength is tuned for the first sub-target and the second wavelength is tuned for the second sub-target and the first wavelength is different than the second wavelength, and

wherein each of the first sub-target and the second sub-target has a first periodic structure having features extending in a first direction and a second periodic structure having features extending in a second different direction; and

detecting at least some of the radiation coming from the first sub-target and at least some of the radiation coming from the second sub-target to obtain for the measurement target a measurement representing a parameter of a lithographic process, wherein a value of the parameter is obtained from the first sub-target using the first wavelength without using the second wavelength and from the second sub-target using the second wavelength without using the first wavelength.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first sub-target has a different feature width or different space width than the second sub-target.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first and second periodic structures of the second sub-target meet at a central portion of the measurement target and the first and second periodic structures of the first sub-target are arranged around a periphery of the first and second periodic structures of the second sub-target.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the illuminating comprises illuminating the first sub-target with radiation having a first polarization, and illuminating the second sub-target of the measurement target on the substrate with radiation having a second polarization, wherein the first polarization is different from the second polarization.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least part of the first sub-target is located on a different layer than at least part of the second sub-target.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the measurement target has an area of less than or equal to 1000 μm 2 on the substrate.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the parameter of the lithographic process is overlay.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the detecting radiation comprises forming a dark field image of at least the first and second sub-targets.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising configuring, based on the measurement representing the parameter, the lithographic process or a metrology process.

10. A non-transitory computer program product comprising machine-readable instructions therein, the instructions, upon execution by a computer system, configured to cause the computer system to at least cause:

illumination of a first sub-target of a measurement target on a substrate with radiation having a first wavelength, and illumination of a second sub-target of the measurement target on the substrate with radiation having a second wavelength,

wherein the first wavelength is tuned for the first sub-target and the second wavelength is tuned for the second sub-target and the first wavelength is different than the second wavelength, and

wherein (i) at least part of the first sub-target is located on a different layer than at least part of the second sub-target, or (ii) each of the first sub-target and the second sub-target has a first periodic structure having features extending in a first direction and a second periodic structure having features extending in a second different direction, or (iii) both (i) and (ii); and

detection of at least some of the radiation coming from the first sub-target and at least some of the radiation coming from the second sub-target to obtain for the measurement target a measurement representing a parameter of a lithographic process, wherein a value of the parameter is obtained from the first sub-target using the first wavelength without using the second wavelength and from the second sub-target using the second wavelength without using the first wavelength.

11. A metrology apparatus comprising the computer product of claim 10 .

12. The computer program product of claim 10 , wherein at least part of the first sub-target is located on a different layer than at least part of the second sub-target.

13. The computer program product of claim 10 , wherein each of the first sub-target and the second sub-target has a first periodic structure having features extending in a first direction and a second periodic structure having features extending in a second different direction.

14. A method comprising:

illuminating a first sub-target of a measurement target on a substrate with radiation having a first wavelength, and illuminating a second sub-target of the measurement target on the substrate with radiation having a second wavelength,

wherein the first wavelength is tuned for the first sub-target and the second wavelength is tuned for the second sub-target and the first wavelength is different than the second wavelength, and

wherein at least part of the first sub-target is located on a different layer than at least part of the second sub-target; and

detecting at least some of the radiation coming from the first sub-target and at least some of the radiation coming from the second sub-target to obtain for the measurement target a measurement representing a parameter of a lithographic process, wherein a value of the parameter is obtained from the first sub-target using the first wavelength without using the second wavelength and from the second sub-target using the second wavelength without using the first wavelength.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the first sub-target has a different feature width, different pitch, or different space width than the second sub-target.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the first and second periodic structures of the second sub-target meet at a central portion of the measurement target and the first and second periodic structures of the first sub-target are arranged around a periphery of the first and second periodic structures of the second sub-target.

17. The method of claim 14 , wherein the illuminating comprises illuminating the first sub-target with radiation having a first polarization, and illuminating the second sub-target of the measurement target on the substrate with radiation having a second polarization, wherein the first polarization is different from the second polarization.

18. The method of claim 14 , wherein (i) the first sub-target has a periodic structure of features with a pitch of the features selected from the range 100-1000 nm, or (ii) the second sub-target has a periodic structure of features with a pitch of the features selected from the range 100-1000 nm, or (iii) both (i) and (ii).

19. The method of claim 14 , wherein the measurement target has an area of less than or equal to 1000 μm 2 on the substrate.

20. The method of claim 14 , wherein the parameter of the lithographic process is overlay.

21. The method of claim 14 , wherein the detecting radiation comprises forming a dark field image of at least the first and second sub-targets.

22. The method of claim 14 , further comprising configuring, based on the measurement representing the parameter, the lithographic process or a metrology process.

23. A non-transitory computer program product comprising machine-readable instructions therein, the instructions, upon execution by a computer system, configured to cause the computer system to at least:

determine a design of first sub-target of a measurement target for formation on a substrate, a first wavelength of radiation for illumination of the first sub-target, a design of second sub-target of the measurement target for formation on the substrate, and a second wavelength of radiation for illumination of the second sub-target,

wherein (i) the design of the first sub-target, or (ii) the first wavelength, or (iii) both (i) and (ii), is configured such that the first wavelength is tuned for the first sub-target and (iv) the design of the second sub-target, or (v) the second wavelength, or (vi) both (iv) and (v), is configured such that the second wavelength is tuned for the second sub-target,

wherein each of the first sub-target and the second sub-target has a first periodic structure having features extending in a first direction and a second periodic structure having features extending in a second different direction, and

wherein the first and second wavelengths are different; and

produce a design of the measurement target comprising the designs of the first and second sub-targets and a metrology recipe comprising the first and second wavelengths so as to enable a value of the parameter to be obtained from the first sub-target using the first wavelength without using the second wavelength and from the second sub-target using the second wavelength without using the first wavelength.

24. The medium of claim 23 , wherein the first sub-target has a different feature width or different space width than the second sub-target.

25. The medium of claim 23 , wherein the first and second periodic structures of the second sub-target meet at a central portion of the measurement target and the first and second periodic structures of the first sub-target are arranged around a periphery of the first and second periodic structures of the second sub-target.

26. The medium of claim 23 , wherein the instructions configured to cause the computer system to perform the determination are further configured to cause the computer system to analyze robustness to variation in measurement radiation focus.

27. The medium of claim 23 , wherein the instructions are further configured to cause the computer system to determine a first polarization of radiation for illumination of the first sub-target and a second polarization of radiation for illumination of the second sub-target,

wherein (vii) the design of the first sub-target, or (viii) the first polarization, or (ix) both (vii) and (viii), is configured such that the first polarization is tuned for the first sub-target and (x) the design of the second sub-target, or (xi) the second polarization, or (xii) both (x) and (xi), is configured such that the second polarization is tuned for the second sub-target, and

wherein the first polarization is different from the second polarization.

28. The medium of claim 23 , wherein the design of the measurement target is configured to have the measurement target have an area of less than or equal to 1000 μm 2 on the substrate.

29. The medium of claim 23 , wherein the parameter of the lithographic process is overlay.

Assignments (3)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Nov 12, 2021
From: BHATTACHARYYA, KAUSTUVE; FOUQUET, CHRISTOPHE DAVID; DEN BOEF, ARIE JEFFREY; FUCHS, ANDREAS; VAN DER SCHAAR, MAURITS; ADAM, OMER ABUBAKER OMER; KUBIS, MICHAEL; JAK, MARTIN JACOBUS JOHAN; VAN BUEL, HENRICUS WILHELMUS MARIA; BELTMAN, JOHANNES MARCUS MARIA; VAN HAREN, RICHARD JOHANNES FRANCISCUS; SMILDE, HENDRIK JAN HIDDE; LIU, XING LAN
To: ASML NETHERLANDS B.V.
Reel/Frame 058099/0001 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Nov 12, 2021
From: BHATTACHARYYA, KAUSTUVE; FOUQUET, CHRISTOPHE DAVID; DEN BOEF, ARIE JEFFREY; FUCHS, ANDREAS; VAN DER SCHAAR, MAURITS; ADAM, OMER ABUBAKER OMER; KUBIS, MICHAEL; JAK, MARTIN JACOBUS JOHAN; VAN BUEL, HENRICUS WILHELMUS MARIA; BELTMAN, JOHANNES MARCUS MARIA; VAN HAREN, RICHARD JOHANNES FRANCISCUS; SMILDE, HENDRIK JAN HIDDE; LIU, XING LAN
To: ASML NETHERLANDS B.V.
Reel/Frame 058099/0243 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Nov 12, 2021
From: BHATTACHARYYA, KAUSTUVE; FOUQUET, CHRISTOPHE DAVID; FUCHS, ANDREAS; DEN BOEF, ARIE JEFFREY; VAN DER SCHAAR, MAURITS; KUBIS, MICHAEL; ADAM, OMER ABUBAKER OMER; JAK, MARTIN JACOBUS JOHAN
To: ASML NETHERLANDS B.V.
Reel/Frame 058099/0380 →
Continuity (6)
Continuation 16931832 · Jul 17, 2020
Continuation 16507297 · Jul 10, 2019
Continuation 14835504 · Aug 25, 2015
Provisional Application 62170008 · Jun 2, 2015
Provisional Application 62090801 · Dec 11, 2014
Related Publication 20220057192A1 · Feb 24, 2022
Cited By (1)
US 12,429,328