KR20100074626A - Method to inspect defect of reticle - Google Patents
Method to inspect defect of reticle Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- KR20100074626A KR20100074626A KR1020080133114A KR20080133114A KR20100074626A KR 20100074626 A KR20100074626 A KR 20100074626A KR 1020080133114 A KR1020080133114 A KR 1020080133114A KR 20080133114 A KR20080133114 A KR 20080133114A KR 20100074626 A KR20100074626 A KR 20100074626A
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- KR
- South Korea
- Prior art keywords
- defect
- pattern
- reticle
- inspecting
- feedback
- Prior art date
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- G—PHYSICS
- G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
- G03F—PHOTOMECHANICAL PRODUCTION OF TEXTURED OR PATTERNED SURFACES, e.g. FOR PRINTING, FOR PROCESSING OF SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; MATERIALS THEREFOR; ORIGINALS THEREFOR; APPARATUS SPECIALLY ADAPTED THEREFOR
- G03F1/00—Originals for photomechanical production of textured or patterned surfaces, e.g., masks, photo-masks, reticles; Mask blanks or pellicles therefor; Containers specially adapted therefor; Preparation thereof
- G03F1/38—Masks having auxiliary features, e.g. special coatings or marks for alignment or testing; Preparation thereof
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- G—PHYSICS
- G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
- G03F—PHOTOMECHANICAL PRODUCTION OF TEXTURED OR PATTERNED SURFACES, e.g. FOR PRINTING, FOR PROCESSING OF SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; MATERIALS THEREFOR; ORIGINALS THEREFOR; APPARATUS SPECIALLY ADAPTED THEREFOR
- G03F1/00—Originals for photomechanical production of textured or patterned surfaces, e.g., masks, photo-masks, reticles; Mask blanks or pellicles therefor; Containers specially adapted therefor; Preparation thereof
- G03F1/38—Masks having auxiliary features, e.g. special coatings or marks for alignment or testing; Preparation thereof
- G03F1/44—Testing or measuring features, e.g. grid patterns, focus monitors, sawtooth scales or notched scales
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- G—PHYSICS
- G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
- G03F—PHOTOMECHANICAL PRODUCTION OF TEXTURED OR PATTERNED SURFACES, e.g. FOR PRINTING, FOR PROCESSING OF SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; MATERIALS THEREFOR; ORIGINALS THEREFOR; APPARATUS SPECIALLY ADAPTED THEREFOR
- G03F1/00—Originals for photomechanical production of textured or patterned surfaces, e.g., masks, photo-masks, reticles; Mask blanks or pellicles therefor; Containers specially adapted therefor; Preparation thereof
- G03F1/68—Preparation processes not covered by groups G03F1/20 - G03F1/50
- G03F1/82—Auxiliary processes, e.g. cleaning or inspecting
- G03F1/84—Inspecting
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L22/00—Testing or measuring during manufacture or treatment; Reliability measurements, i.e. testing of parts without further processing to modify the parts as such; Structural arrangements therefor
- H01L22/10—Measuring as part of the manufacturing process
- H01L22/12—Measuring as part of the manufacturing process for structural parameters, e.g. thickness, line width, refractive index, temperature, warp, bond strength, defects, optical inspection, electrical measurement of structural dimensions, metallurgic measurement of diffusions
Abstract
Description
The present invention relates to a defect detection method of a reticle, and in particular, it is possible to discriminate defect removal capability and defect detection capability, and to improve the flexibility of feedback between defect removal and defect detection capability determination results and whether or not the reticle is applied to the actual device process. It relates to a defect detection method of a reticle that can be done.
The semiconductor device is composed of a plurality of stacked patterns. Each pattern may be formed by depositing a thin film for pattern formation on a wafer and then performing a number of photolithography processes. The photolithography process includes a process of depositing a photoresist film on a thin film, a process of transferring a pattern formed on a reticle to a photoresist film by an exposure process, and a process of developing a photoresist film to form a photoresist pattern. . After the photolithography process, the pattern of the semiconductor device may be formed by patterning a thin film along the photoresist pattern.
As such, the pattern formed on the reticle determines the pattern of the semiconductor device. When a defect pattern occurs in the reticle, the defect also occurs in the pattern of the semiconductor device. To prevent this, it is necessary to determine whether the reticle is defective after going through the process of detecting a defect in the reticle. Accordingly, the detection capability of the detection equipment for detecting defects generated in the reticle affects the reliability of the semiconductor device. In order to verify the detection capability of such detection equipment, defect detection capability is determined through a separate test reticle. The test reticle is manufactured to discriminate purely defect detection equipment detection capability separately from a reticle applied to a process for forming a pattern of a semiconductor device. Such a test reticle can be used to determine not only the detection capability of the defect detection apparatus but also the defect removal capability of the defect elimination apparatus for removing the defect.
As such, when using a test reticle, it is necessary to prepare a test reticle and evaluate the same. After the defects of the test reticle are removed, when applied to the photo process, a separate test photo process is performed to confirm whether the defects are transferred, thereby determining the detection capability of the defect detection apparatus and the defect removal capability of the defect removal apparatus. . The results determined in the test reticle and the test photo process are fed back to the set-up conditions of the defect eliminating apparatus and the defect detecting apparatus, thereby completing the set-up of the defect eliminating apparatus and the defect detecting apparatus.
Through the above-described series of processes, the defect elimination device and the defect detection device, which have been set up, are used to detect and remove pattern defects of the reticle applied to the actual process, and apply the reticle to the device manufacturing process. However, since the manufacturing process of a semiconductor device uses various types of reticles and a photo process with various exposure conditions (for example, wavelengths), defect detection equipment and defect removal equipment verified through test reticles are used. Even if the reticle for the normal photo process is selected by using the exposure conditions, whether the defect is vulnerable may vary. Accordingly, when using the conventional method, it is necessary to check all the vulnerabilities of the defects according to the formation conditions of the pattern constituting the device, which makes the reticle defect detection method and the defect removal method complicated. In addition, there is a substantial difference between the magnitude of the wavelength used in the photo process for forming the pattern of the semiconductor element and the wavelength of the device for detecting defects in the reticle fabrication. As a result, although the defect is not detected by the inspection apparatus due to a difference in light transmittance or the like, the defect may be transferred during the photo process of the actual device manufacturing. As described above, according to the conventional defect detection method, there is a problem that the correlation between the result of defect elimination and defect detection capability determination and the defect of the reticle applied to the actual device process are inferior, and the feedback is difficult.
The present invention relates to a defect detection method of a reticle, and in particular, it is possible to discriminate defect removal capability and defect detection capability, and to improve the flexibility of feedback between defect removal and defect detection capability determination results and whether or not the reticle is applied to the actual device process. The defect detection method of the reticle which can be provided is provided.
The defect detection method of the reticle according to the present invention includes providing a reticle having a normal pattern and a first defect pattern formed in a predefined area, removing a first defect pattern, inspecting a defect of the reticle, inspecting a defect Forming a pattern of the semiconductor device through an exposure process using a normal pattern of the reticle in which the defect is not detected in the step; and re-inspecting the defect of the reticle by analyzing the pattern of the semiconductor device.
In the step of inspecting the defect of the reticle, the removal capability of the first defect pattern in the step of removing the first defect pattern is analyzed, and the analysis result is fed back to the step of removing the first defect pattern. The process condition of the step of removing the first defect pattern is reset by the feedback of the analysis result. The resetting of the process conditions of the step of removing the feedback and the first defect pattern is repeated until the first defect pattern is not detected in the step of inspecting the defect of the reticle.
In the step of inspecting the defect of the reticle, the second defect pattern formed on the reticle is detected in the process of forming the normal pattern and the first defect pattern. If the second defect pattern is detected in the step of inspecting the defect of the reticle, the step of removing the second defect pattern is performed before the step of forming the pattern of the semiconductor device. After the step of removing the second defect pattern, the reticle is returned to the step of inspecting the defect of the reticle to inspect the removal of the second defect pattern. The reticle is returned to the step of inspecting the defect of the reticle to remove the second defect pattern, and the analysis result is analyzed and the feedback is returned to the step of removing the second defect pattern. The process condition of the step of removing the second defect pattern is reset by the feedback of the analysis result. The resetting of the process condition of removing the feedback and the second defect pattern is repeated until the second defect pattern is not detected in the step of inspecting the defect of the reticle.
In the step of retesting the defect of the reticle by analyzing the pattern of the semiconductor device, the defect detection capability of the step of inspecting the defect of the reticle is analyzed, and the analysis result is fed back to the step of inspecting the defect of the reticle. The feedback of the analysis results resets the inspection conditions for inspecting the defects in the reticle. The resetting of the inspection condition of the feedback and the defect inspection of the reticle is repeated until the defect is not detected in the inspection of the defect of the reticle.
As described above, in the present invention, by forming a first defect pattern in a predetermined region together with a normal pattern used to form a pattern of an actual device, it is possible to grasp the inspection capability of the defect inspection equipment and at the same time remove the defect removal equipment. Can be identified. This allows evaluating defect detection and removal processes with predefined defect patterns without the need to manufacture test reticles.
In addition, since defects are detected through the pattern of the actual device, it is easy to grasp the correlation between the pattern of the device and the reticle pattern formed during the actual process application.
In addition, when a reticle is applied when the pattern of the actual device is applied, even if a defect of the reticle is newly detected, the analysis result may be fed back to the defect inspection equipment.
Thus, according to the defect inspection method of the reticle according to the present invention, reticle defect analysis and feedback between the defect elimination equipment and detection equipment is easy, and the correlation between the reticle defect and the pattern when applying the actual photo process, easy to reticle improved reliability It is possible to manufacture.
Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below, but can be implemented in various forms, and only the present embodiments are intended to complete the disclosure of the present invention and to those skilled in the art. It is provided for complete information.
1 is a view for explaining a defect detection method of the reticle according to the present invention, Figures 2a to 2c are views showing various examples of the reticle used in the defect detection shown in FIG.
1 to 2C, the defect detection method of the reticle according to the present invention firstly, the
The normal pattern and the first defect patterns shown in FIGS. 2A to 2C are merely examples. That is, the normal pattern included in the reticle in step S1 may be variously formed according to the pattern of the semiconductor device to be formed. In addition, the first defect pattern is formed in an intentional shape and shape in a predefined area assuming a defect that may occur when the normal patterns are formed. In the process of forming the normal pattern and the first defect pattern, unintended second defect patterns may be formed in unintended regions of the reticle.
As such, when the reticle including the normal pattern, the first defect pattern, and the second defect pattern is provided in step S1, the first defect patterns are removed using a defect removal apparatus (hereinafter, referred to as “step S3”). Since the first defect patterns are formed in a predefined shape in the predefined area, the first defect patterns are easily removed in step S3.
After the step S3, defects are inspected using the defect detection equipment to check for abnormalities of the reticle from which the first defect pattern has been removed (hereinafter, referred to as "step S5"). In step S5 it may be determined whether the first defect pattern is completely removed to determine the defect removal ability in step S3. At the same time, it is also checked whether a second defect pattern has occurred in the reticle in step S5.
The reticle normally determined without the first and second defect patterns in step S5 is used in the pattern formation process of the device (hereinafter, referred to as "step S9") for producing the actual device. When the first defect pattern is completely removed, the condition of the defect removal process is reflected in the step of removing the second defect pattern (hereinafter referred to as "S7 step").
On the contrary, when the second defect pattern is generated in step S5, after performing step S7, the process returns to step S5 to determine whether the second defect pattern has been removed. If removal of the second defect pattern is confirmed in the reticle conveyed from step S7 to step S5, step S9 is performed. On the other hand, when the second defect pattern is not removed from the reticle returned from step S7 to step S5, the analysis result is analyzed by analyzing the CD (critical width) and position of the second defect pattern that is not removed. Feedback to the fault removal equipment to reset the condition of the second fault pattern removal equipment. Thereafter, step S7 is repeated to remove the second defect pattern and return to step S5. This process of conveying is repeated until the second defect pattern is removed. After final removal of the second defect pattern is confirmed, step S9 is performed. As described above, the present invention can remove the defect pattern while grasping the removal capability of the second defect pattern removal equipment.
In another case, when the first defect pattern occurs in step S5, the CD width and position of the first defect pattern that have not been removed are analyzed, and the analysis result is fed back to the first defect removal equipment in step S3 to remove the first defect pattern. Reset the condition of the equipment. Thereafter, step S5 is repeated to remove the first defect pattern and return to step S5. This process of conveying is repeated until the first defect pattern is removed. As described above, the present invention can remove the defect pattern while grasping the removal capability of the first defect pattern removal equipment by using the first defect pattern.
In operation S9, a pattern of the semiconductor device is formed through an exposure process using the normal pattern of the reticle.
After the step S9, the pattern of the semiconductor device is analyzed to determine whether there is an abnormally formed pattern, and the defect of the reticle normally determined in the step S5 is retested (hereinafter, referred to as "step S11").
If there is no abnormally formed pattern in step S9, the finally determined reticle is applied to the process as it is finally used (step S13).
On the other hand, if there is an abnormally formed pattern in step S9, the CD width difference and DOF (Depth of Focus) margin between the pattern of the abnormally formed device and the pattern of the normally formed device is analyzed. Here, the abnormally formed element pattern is generated by not detecting the first and second defect patterns in step S5. Therefore, the analysis results of step S9 are fed back to step S5 to reset the condition of the defect inspection equipment, and then step S3 or S7 is performed. Thereafter, the reticle is returned to step S5 to confirm that the first and second defect patterns are completely removed, and step S9 is performed. This process is repeated until no defect is detected in step S11.
As described above, in the present invention, by forming a first defect pattern in a predetermined region together with a normal pattern used to form a pattern of an actual device, it is possible to grasp the inspection capability of the defect inspection equipment and at the same time remove the defect removal equipment. Can be identified.
In addition, since defects are detected through the pattern of the actual device, it is easy to grasp the correlation between the pattern of the device and the reticle pattern formed during the actual process application.
When the reticle is applied when the actual device pattern is manufactured, even if a defect of the reticle is newly detected, the analysis result can be fed back to the defect inspection equipment, thereby making it possible to manufacture the reticle with improved reliability.
Although the technical spirit of the present invention described above has been described in detail in a preferred embodiment, it should be noted that the above-described embodiment is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. In addition, the present invention will be understood by those skilled in the art that various embodiments are possible within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention.
1 is a view for explaining a defect detection method of the reticle according to the present invention.
2A-2C show various examples of the reticle used for defect detection shown in FIG. 1;
<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>
Normal pattern: 101a, 101b, 101c, 201a, 201b, 201c, 301a, 301b, 301c
105a, 105b, 105c, 205a, 205b, 205c, 305a, 305b, 305c: first defect pattern
Claims (13)
Priority Applications (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
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KR1020080133114A KR20100074626A (en) | 2008-12-24 | 2008-12-24 | Method to inspect defect of reticle |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
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KR1020080133114A KR20100074626A (en) | 2008-12-24 | 2008-12-24 | Method to inspect defect of reticle |
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KR20100074626A true KR20100074626A (en) | 2010-07-02 |
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KR1020080133114A KR20100074626A (en) | 2008-12-24 | 2008-12-24 | Method to inspect defect of reticle |
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Cited By (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
WO2013188232A1 (en) * | 2012-06-14 | 2013-12-19 | Kla-Tencor Corporation | Apparatus and methods for inspecting extreme ultra violet reticles |
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2008
- 2008-12-24 KR KR1020080133114A patent/KR20100074626A/en not_active Application Discontinuation
Cited By (3)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
WO2013188232A1 (en) * | 2012-06-14 | 2013-12-19 | Kla-Tencor Corporation | Apparatus and methods for inspecting extreme ultra violet reticles |
US8953869B2 (en) | 2012-06-14 | 2015-02-10 | Kla-Tencor Corporation | Apparatus and methods for inspecting extreme ultra violet reticles |
US9679372B2 (en) | 2012-06-14 | 2017-06-13 | Kla-Tencor Corporation | Apparatus and methods for inspecting extreme ultra violet reticles |
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