In field overlay uncertainty contributors

In this publication, the contributors to in-field overlay metrology uncertainty have been parsed and quantified in a specific case study. Particular focus is placed on the unmodeled systematics, i.e. the components which contribute to residuals in a linear model after removal of random errors. These are the contributors which are often the most challenging to quantify and are suspected to be significant in the model residuals. The results show that even in a relatively "clean" front end process, the unmodeled systematics are the dominant residual contributor, accounting for 60 to 70% of the variance. Given the above results, new sampling and modeling methods are proposed which have the potential to improve the accuracy of modeled correctibles and lot dispositioning parameters.