Super resolution optical measurements of nanodefects on Si wafer surface using infrared standing evanescent wave

Abstract

We propose a novel optical measurement technique that enables the sensitive evaluation of microdefects on a Si semiconductor wafer surface beyond the diffraction limit. The proposed measurement technique is based on a hybrid technique combining a super spatial-resolution measurement method using a structured illumination and a highly sensitive dark-field inspection method using an infrared evanescent illumination. Theoretical and experimental analyses suggest that this technique makes it possible to measure defects with 100-nm spatial resolution nondestructively with a wavelength of 1064 nm without the need for time-consuming processes such as probe scanning.