X-ray diffraction imaging for predictive metrology of crack propagation in 450-mm diameter silicon wafers

Abstract

The apparatus for X-ray diffraction imaging (XRDI) of 450-mm wafers, is now placed at the ANKA synchrotron radiation source in Karlsruhe, is described in the context of the drive to inspect wafers for plastic deformation or mechanical damage. It is shown that full wafer maps at high resolution can be expected to take a few hours to record. However, we show from experiments on 200-, 300-, and 450-mm wafers that a perimeter-scan on a 450-mm wafer, to pick up edge damage and edge-originated slip sources, can be achieved in just over 10 min. Experiments at the Diamond Light Source, on wafers still in their cassettes, suggest that clean-room conditions may not be necessary for such characterization. We conclude that scaling up of the 300-mm format Jordan Valley tools, together with the existing facility at ANKA, provides satisfactory capability for future XRDI analysis of 450-mm wafers.