Metrology Requirements and the Limits of Measurement Technology for the Semiconductor Industry

The semiconductor industry continues to fabricate integrated circuits (ICs) with faster clock speeds, increased numbers of transistors, and smaller feature sizes. A complete set of the attributes describing a new technology generation (or node) is specified by an important features size such as the 12 pitch of the first level of metal lines in a dynamic random access memory (DRAM). Historically, Moore’s law has been used to describe the timing associated with the three‐year cycle of new generations of memory devices. Recently, the introduction of new generations of logic devices has surpassed the three‐year node cycle of memory devices. New technology generations have another significance. Each generation requires a new set of manufacturing equipment and, recently, new materials. The International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) describes the technology requirements for volume manufacturing of integrated circuits (ICs) for each new technology node over the next 15 years [1]. In the 15‐year ho...