Characterization of nano-structured surfaces by EUV scatterometry

Abstract

Scatterometry in the UV and the VIS is widely used for the inspection of nano-structured surfaces in, e.g. quantitative wafer metrology in the semiconductor industry. As the structures become progressively smaller, ever fewer propagating diffraction orders exist. Consequently, these few orders do not carry enough information about the structure any more. Particularly the reconstruction of structures without detailed a priori knowledge becomes impossible due to this lack of information. The Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) has developed extreme UV (EUV) scatterometry using its EUV reflectometry facility at the electron storage ring BESSY II. The short wavelength of EUV at around 13 nm is advantageous since it provides more propagating diffraction orders compared to the longer wavelength radiation. The short wavelength also increases the sensitivity to small structural features, particularly roughness. We present the application of EUV scatterometry for the characterization of absorber lines with a trapezoidal cross section on semiconductor photo masks and for the characterization of ultra-smooth surfaces of EUV multilayer mirrors. It is shown that structure roughness significantly impacts the scattered diffraction intensities from structured surfaces and must be included in the structure reconstruction algorithms using inverse modelling by FEM. Estimates for the changes in reconstructed geometrical parameters induced by roughness are presented.