Assessment of critical dimension small-angle x-ray scattering measurement approaches for FinFET fabrication process monitoring

Charles M. Settens; Aaron Cordes; Benjamin D. Bunday; Abner F. Bello; Vimal K. Kamineni; Abhijeet Paul; Jody Fronheiser; Richard J. Matyi

doi:10.1117/1.JMM.13.4.041408

4 November 2014 Assessment of critical dimension small-angle x-ray scattering measurement approaches for FinFET fabrication process monitoring

Charles M. Settens, Aaron Cordes, Benjamin D. Bunday, Abner F. Bello, Vimal K. Kamineni, Abhijeet Paul, Jody Fronheiser, Richard J. Matyi

Author Affiliations +

Journal of Micro/Nanolithography, MEMS, and MOEMS, Vol. 13, Issue 4, 041408 (November 2014). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JMM.13.4.041408

Abstract

We have used synchrotron-based critical dimension small-angle x-ray scattering (CD-SAXS) to monitor the impact of hydrogen annealing on the structural characteristics of silicon FinFET structures fabricated using self-aligned double patterning on both bulk silicon and silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrates. H₂ annealing under different conditions of temperature and gas pressure allowed us to vary the sidewall roughness and observe the response in the two metrology approaches. In the case of the simpler bulk Si FinFET structures, the CD-SAXS measurements of the critical dimensions are in substantive agreement with the top–down critical dimension scanning electron microscopy metrology. Corresponding characterizations on SOI-based FinFET structures showed less agreement, which is attributed to the more complex structural model required for SOI FinFET CD-SAXS modeling. Because sidewall roughness is an important factor in the performance characteristics of Si FinFETs, we have compared the results of roughness measurements using both critical dimension atomic force microscopy (CD-AFM) and CD-SAXS. The measurements yield similar estimates of sidewall roughness, although the CD-AFM values were typically larger than those generated by CD-SAXS. The reasons for these differences will be discussed.

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Charles M. Settens, Aaron Cordes, Benjamin D. Bunday, Abner F. Bello, Vimal K. Kamineni, Abhijeet Paul, Jody Fronheiser, and Richard J. Matyi "Assessment of critical dimension small-angle x-ray scattering measurement approaches for FinFET fabrication process monitoring," Journal of Micro/Nanolithography, MEMS, and MOEMS 13(4), 041408 (4 November 2014). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JMM.13.4.041408

Published: 4 November 2014

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