Chip film thickness inspection is a very important step in the semiconductor manufacturing process. It ensures that the performance and quality of the chip meet the requirements. In the chip manufacturing process, there are several common film thickness detection process equipment and technical difficulties.
1. Common film thickness measurement equipment includes ellipsometry, atomic force microscope and X-ray reflectometer. Ellipsometers are suitable for measuring the film thickness of transparent films, atomic force microscopy is suitable for measuring the film thickness of nanoscale thin films, and X-ray reflectometers are suitable for measuring the film thickness of metallic thin films.
2. Optical measurement is a commonly used film thickness measurement technology, but it faces some technical difficulties. For example, for a thin film of a particular material, the reflection and transmission behavior of light becomes very complex and difficult to accurately measure when the film thickness changes little due to the limited wavelength of light. Therefore, complex models and algorithms are needed to solve this problem.
3. Atomic force microscopy can provide very high resolution and is suitable for measuring film thickness at the nanoscale. However, AFMs are subject to factors such as drift, vibration, and noise during measurement, which can lead to errors in the measurement data. Therefore, effective noise and vibration suppression methods are required to improve the accuracy and stability of the measurement.
4. The X-ray reflectometer can determine the film thickness by measuring the reflection of the material to the X-rays. However, due to the complexity of the material and the presence of multi-layer films, X-ray reflectometry faces problems such as absorption effects and multiple scattering during the measurement process. These problems need to be corrected and processed by models and algorithms to improve the accuracy of measurements.
Difficulties in chip film thickness inspection process equipment and technology include the complexity of optical measurements, the stability of atomic force microscopy measurements, and the multiple scattering of X-ray reflection. Solving these problems requires continuous improvement of equipment and algorithms, combined with process experience to achieve more accurate and stable film thickness measurements. Semiconductors