Estimation of Line Cross Sections Using Critical-Dimension Grazing-Incidence Small-Angle X-Ray Scattering

Guillaume Freychet, Dinesh Kumar, Ron J. Pandolfi, Patrick Naulleau, Isvar Cordova, Peter Ercius, Chengyu Song, Joseph Strzalka, and Alexander Hexemer
Phys. Rev. Applied 12, 044026 – Published 11 October 2019

Abstract

The semiconductor industry is continuously pushing the limits of photolithography, with feature sizes now smaller than 10 nm. To ensure quality, it has become necessary to look beyond the conventional metrological techniques. X-ray scattering has emerged as a possible contender to determine the average shape of a line grating with subnanometer precision. However, to fulfill its promise, faster algorithms must also be developed to interpret and extract metrics from reciprocal-space scattering data. In this paper, we present a fast and accurate x-ray technique and analysis algorithm: critical-dimension grazing-incidence small-angle x-ray scattering (CD GISAXS). The CD GISAXS technique is used in grazing-incidence configuration with a continuous azimuthal rotation of the sample, and thus does not require high-energy x-rays to penetrate the wafer and greatly reduces the data-acquisition times, permitting analysis within the framework of the distorted-wave Born approximation.

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  • Received 26 October 2018
  • Revised 16 July 2019

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.12.044026

© 2019 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Polymers & Soft MatterGeneral Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Guillaume Freychet1, Dinesh Kumar2,*, Ron J. Pandolfi2, Patrick Naulleau3, Isvar Cordova4,‡, Peter Ercius5, Chengyu Song5, Joseph Strzalka6, and Alexander Hexemer4,†

  • 1NSLS-II, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973, USA
  • 2Center for Advanced Mathematics for Energy Research Applications, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
  • 3Center for X-ray Optics, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
  • 4Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
  • 5Molecular Foundary, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
  • 6X-Ray Science Division, Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL 60439, USA

  • *dkumar@lbl.gov
  • ahexemer@lbl.gov
  • Also at Center for X-ray Optics, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

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Vol. 12, Iss. 4 — October 2019

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