Dr. Manabu Edamura Profile

Dr. Manabu Edamura

Senior Engineer at Hitachi Kenki FineTech Co Ltd

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Author

Publications (2)

Proceedings Article | 5 April 2007 Paper

New inline AFM metrology tool suited for LSI manufacturing at the 45-nm node and beyond

Manabu Edamura, Yuichi Kunitomo, Takafumi Morimoto, Satoshi Sekino, Toru Kurenuma, Yukio Kembo, Masahiro Watanabe, Shuichi Baba, Kishio Hidaka

Proceedings Volume 6518, 65183M (2007) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.711676

KEYWORDS: Atomic force microscopy, Semiconducting wafers, Metrology, Photoresist materials, Manufacturing, Carbon nanotubes, Chemical mechanical planarization, Sensors, Scanners, Very large scale integration

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Proceedings Article | 5 April 2007 Paper

An advanced AFM sensor: its profile accuracy and low probe wear property for high aspect ratio patterns

Masahiro Watanabe, Shuichi Baba, Toshihiko Nakata, Toru Kurenuma, Yuichi Kunitomo, Manabu Edamura

Proceedings Volume 6518, 65183L (2007) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.711526

KEYWORDS: Sensors, Atomic force microscopy, Digital signal processing, Scanners, Signal processing, Silicon, Carbon, Feedback control, Copper, Nondestructive evaluation

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Design rule shrinkage and wider adoption of new device structures such as STI, copper damascene interconnects, and deep trench structures have made the need for in-line process monitoring of step heights and profiles of device structures more urgent. To monitor active device patterns, as opposed to test patterns as in OCD, AFM is the only non-destructive 3D monitoring tool. The barriers to using AFM in-line monitoring are its slow throughput and the accuracy degradation associated with probe tip wear and spike noise caused by unwanted oscillation on the steep slopes of high-aspect-ratio patterns. Our proprietary AFM scanning method, StepIn^TM mode, is the method best suited to measuring high-aspect-ratio pattern profiles. Because the probe is not dragged on the sample surface as in conventional AFM, the profile trace fidelity across steep slopes is excellent. Because the probe does not oscillate and hit the sample at a high frequency, as in AC scanning mode, this mode is free from unwanted spurious noises on steep sample slopes and incurs extremely little probe tip wear. To take full advantage of the above properties, we have developed an AFM sensor that is optimized for in-line use and produces accurate profile data at high speeds and incurs little probe tip wear. The control scheme we have developed for the AFM sensor, which we call "Advanced StepIn^TM", elaborately analyses the contact force signal, enabling efficient probe tip scanning and a low and stable contact force. With a developed AFM sensor that realizes this concept, we conducted an intensive evaluation on the effect of low and stable contact force scan. Probes with HDC (high density carbon) tips were used for the evaluation. The experiment proves that low contact force enhances the measured profile fidelity by preventing probe tip slip on steep slopes. Dynamics simulation of these phenomena was also conducted, and its results agreed well with the experimental results. The low contact force scan also incurs extremely little probe tip wear, which is essential to assure high measurement repeatability. An inherent property of StepIn^TM is that it causes little probe tip wear because of the minimal contact between tip and sample. The effects of this property have been enhanced by adding low contact force scanning.

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