US 12,222,199 B2
Systems and methods for measurement of misregistration and amelioration thereof
Roie Volkovich, Hadera (IL); Nachshon Rothman, DN Oshrat (IL); Yossi Simon, Haifa (IL); Anna Golotsvan, Qiryat Tivon (IL); Vladimir Levinski, Migdal HaEmek (IL); Nireekshan K. Reddy, Tel Aviv (IL); Amnon Manassen, Haifa (IL); Daria Negri, Nesher (IL); and Yuri Paskover, Binyamina (IL)
Assigned to KLA Corporation, Milpitas, CA (US)
Appl. No. 17/254,253
Filed by KLA Corporation, Milpitas, CA (US)
PCT Filed Nov. 5, 2020, PCT No. PCT/US2020/058988
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Dec. 18, 2020,
PCT Pub. No. WO2022/098354, PCT Pub. Date May 12, 2022.
Prior Publication US 2022/0307824 A1, Sep. 29, 2022
Int. Cl. G01B 11/27 (2006.01); H01L 21/66 (2006.01); H01L 21/68 (2006.01); G03F 7/00 (2006.01)
CPC G01B 11/27 (2013.01) [H01L 21/68 (2013.01); H01L 22/00 (2013.01); G01B 2210/56 (2013.01); G03F 7/70633 (2013.01); H01L 22/10 (2013.01); H01L 22/12 (2013.01)] 22 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A system comprising:
a misregistration metrology tool (MMT); and
a database including a plurality of process variation (PV) categories and a corresponding plurality of parameter sets; and
a process variation accommodation engine (PVAE) comprising:
a measurement site process variation category associator (MSPVCA) operative to associate a measurement site being measured by said MMT during runtime, at least partially based on an MMT output relating to said measurement site, with a measurement site process variation category (MSPVC), said MSPVC being one of said plurality of PV categories;
a measurement site parameter set retriever (MSPSR) operative to retrieve a measurement site parameter set (MSPS) corresponding to said MSPVC, wherein said MSPS comprises analysis algorithm parameters, and wherein said analysis algorithm parameters comprise weighting rules that determine weights for said MSPS; and
a measurement site parameter set communicator (MSPSC) operative to communicate said MSPS to said MMT; and
wherein said MMT is configured to:
measure said measurement site on a wafer based on said MSPS thereby generating misregistration measurement data; and
analyze said misregistration measurement data based on said MSPS thereby generating at least one quality metric of said measurement site, wherein said quality metric indicates at least one misregistration value for different layers between which misregistration was measured at said measurement site.