Results of benchmarking of advanced CD-SEMs at the 90-nm CMOS technology node

The Advanced Metrology Advisory Group (AMAG) is a council composed of the chief CD-metrologists from the International SEMATECH Manufacturing Initiative (ISMI) consortium’s Member Companies and from the National Institute of Standards (NIST). The AMAG wrote and, in 2002, with CD-SEM supplier involvement, updated the “Unified Advanced CD-SEM Specification for Sub-130nm Technology (Version 2002)” to be a living document which outlines the required performance of advanced CD-SEMs for supplier compliance to the 2003 International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors, and also conveys member companies’ other collective needs to vendors. Through applying this specification during the mid-2003 timeframe, a benchmarking effort of the currently available advanced CD-SEMs has been performed. These results are presented here. The AMAG Unified Specification includes sections outlining the test methodologies, metrics, and wafer-target requirements for each parameter included in the benchmark, and, when applicable, prescribes a target specification compatible with the ITRS and methodologies compatible with the demands of 90nm technology. Parameters to be considered include: •Precision, Repeatability and Reproducibility •Accuracy, Apparent Beam Width and Resolution •Charging and Contamination •Tool-to-Tool Matching •Pattern Recognition and Navigation Accuracy •Throughput •Instrumentation Outputs •Tool Automation and Utility •Precision and Accuracy of Profile Measurement •Precision and Accuracy of Roughness Measurement. Previous studies under this same project have been published, with the initial version of the International Sematech Unified Specification in 1998, and multi-supplier benchmarks in 1999 and 2001. The results for the 2003 benchmark will be shown and compared to the ITRS, and composite viewpoints showing these 2003 benchmark results compared to the past results are also shown, demonstrating interesting CD-SEM industry trends.