Defect Review at 0.25 Micron Electron Optic Requirements and Practical Examples

Extract

The sub-micron era in 1C process technology has been characterized by ever shrinking device geometries. When the minimum feature size of 0.5 micron was reached, a significant inflection in the usefulness of optical microscopy occurred. Seemingly routine Fab activities such as the use of the optical microscopes to determine the quality of the metal etch were no longer possible. At the same time, an increased use of defect inspection tools such as KLA and Tencor was required to insure stable process quality. These and other factors combined to hasten the introduction of multiple defect review scanning electron microscopes into the modern 1C Fab. This trend has accelerated during the process development of 0.25 micron technology. Accordingly, as leading 1C manufactures introduce production 0.25 devices, it is not unusual to find as many as six such instruments installed in a modern development or fabrication facility. As such, these instruments, commonly called Defect Review Tools (DRT's) constitute an increasing share of the Fab equipment set.