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Through-focus scanning optical microscopy (TSOM) considering optical aberrations: practical implementation
Optics Express
|December 25, 2015
Summary
A new through-focus scanning optical microscopy (TSOM) method uses simulated images to accurately measure nanosized silicon lines. Accounting for optical aberrations improves accuracy for critical dimension measurements.
Area of Science:
- Optical Microscopy
- Nanotechnology
- Semiconductor Metrology
Background:
- Accurate measurement of critical dimensions (CD) is crucial for semiconductor manufacturing.
- Traditional optical microscopy methods face challenges with nanoscale features.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and demonstrate an improved through-focus scanning optical microscopy (TSOM) method.
- To enhance the accuracy of CD measurements for nanosized silicon lines.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a library of simulated defocused images of nanosized silicon lines.
- Employed the Finite-Differences in Time-Domain (FDTD) method for image simulation.
- Experimentally measured and incorporated optical aberrations of the experimental setup.
Main Results:
- Reduced discrepancy between experimental and simulated images to ≈2% by accounting for aberrations.
- Achieved ≈5% recognition accuracy for CD values in the 40-150 nm range.
- Demonstrated significant improvement over methods not accounting for aberrations (≈10% discrepancy).
Conclusions:
- The demonstrated TSOM method, incorporating simulated images and experimental aberrations, offers high accuracy for nanoscale metrology.
- This approach provides a reliable tool for critical dimension measurement in semiconductor research and development.
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