Abstract
In-line process monitoring plays a vital role in quickly identifying and resolving yield problems in semiconductor manufacturing environments. It is also a very important and powerful methodology in the understanding of material properties during process development and accelerating yield ramps in smaller scale devices. We have developed non-destructive, in-line process and/or material property monitoring methods which use reflection, diffraction and scattering of laser beams. Process induced changes of surface profiles and lattice strains are characterized using newly developed optical surface profilometry (OSP) and multi-wavelength Raman spectroscopy (MRS) systems. Optical surface profiles and Raman characterization were performed on Ni films on 300mm p--Si wafers with or without TiN capping layers, before and after annealing in addition to the conventional sheet resistance measurement using a four point probe. Significant changes in wafer surface profiles and strains near the Ni/Si interface were observed near phase transition (Ni/Si→Ni2Si→NiSi→ NiSi2) temperatures as determined by the temperature sensitivity curve of sheet resistance.
Published Version
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