Abstract
The technique of direct aerial image metrology (AIM) has been applied to characterize the performance of a microlithographic lens. AIM is potentially faster and more reproducible than measurements obtained by scanning electron microscopy. Direct measurement of the aerial image eliminates both the process variations associated with resist processing as well as the subjective nature of evaluating resist profiles. We have used AIM to evaluate some of the primary aberrations of a 248 nm stepper lens. We compare the results to those obtained with latent image scatterometry, a proven technique for measuring lens performance. We found that AIM, while providing qualitatively good results, contained some slight systematic errors that reduced the accuracy of the data. The sources of error and their remedies are discussed.© (1994) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
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