1. A microscope comprising a light source apparatus for producing linearly polarized light, a polarization maintaining fiber which is optically coupled to the light source apparatus to project the linearly polarized light emitted from the light source apparatus as an illumination beam of P-polarized light toward a sample surface, an objective lens which is arranged so that its optical axis is perpendicular to the sample surface so as to collect scattered light emitted from the sample, and a photo detector for receiving the scattered light collected by the objective lens, wherein
said polarization maintaining fiber projects the illumination beam of the P-polarized light at an incidence angle which is substantially equal to the Brewster’s angle of the sample.
2. The microscope of claim 1, wherein the tip of the polarization maintaining fiber is provided with an optical element which controls the divergence angle of the illumination beam.
3. The microscope of claim 2, wherein said optical element comprises a gradient index lens.
4. The microscope of claim 3, wherein said optical element functions as a collimator lens so as to project the parallel illumination beam of P polarized light.
5. The microscope of claim 2, wherein the light source apparatus comprises a super luminescent light emission diode which produces an incoherent light beam of the linearly polarized light.
6. The microscope of claim 2, wherein the light source apparatus comprises a plurality of super luminescent light emission diodes which produce the incoherent light beams of the linearly polarized light, and wherein the polarization maintaining fiber is coupled to the super luminescent light emission diodes through one or a plurality of optical fiber couplers.
7. The microscope of claim 6, wherein the plural super luminescent light emission diodes produce the light beams of the linearly polarized light having the same wavelength.
8. The microscope of claim 6, wherein the plural super luminescent light emission diodes produce the light beams of the linearly polarized light having different wavelengths each other.
9. The microscope of claim 1, wherein the sample is a semiconductor body comprising a silicon substrate and one or a plurality of semiconductor layers formed on the silicon substrate, and wherein the light source apparatus produces the illumination beam of infrared light which is transparent to the silicon material.
10. A microscope comprising a light source apparatus for producing linearly polarized light, a plurality of polarization maintaining fibers which are optically coupled to the light source apparatus to project the linearly polarized light emitted from the light source apparatus as illumination beams of P-polarized light toward a sample surface, an objective lens which is arranged so that its optical axis is perpendicular to the sample surface so as to collect scattered light emitted from the sample, and a photo detector for receiving the scattered light collected by the objective lens, wherein
the polarization maintaining fibers project the illumination beams of the P polarized light at an incidence angle which is substantially equal to the Brewster’s angle of the sample.
11. The microscope of claim 10, wherein each tip of the polarization maintaining fibers are provided with a gradient index lens for controlling the divergence angle of the illumination beam.
12. The microscope of claim 11, wherein the gradient index lens functions as a collimator lens so as to project the parallel illumination beam of P polarized light.
13. The microscope of claim 11, wherein the light emitting ends of the plural polarization maintaining fibers are circularly arranged around the illumination area, and wherein the illumination area of the sample surface is illuminated from different angular directions.
14. The microscope of claim 11, wherein the light source apparatus includes one or a plurality of super luminescent light emission diodes which produce incoherent light beams of linearly polarized light.
15. The microscope of claim 11, wherein the light source apparatus includes a plurality of super luminescent light emission diodes which produce the incoherent light beams of the linearly polarized light having the same wavelength or different wavelengths each other, and wherein the plural polarization maintaining fibers are connected to the plural super luminescent light emission diodes through optical fiber couplers.
16. The microscope of claim 15, wherein the optical fiber couplers comprises a WDM coupler and a 3 dB coupler.
17. The microscope of claim 10, wherein the sample is a semiconductor body comprising a silicon substrate and one or a plurality of semiconductor layers formed on the silicon substrate, and wherein the light source apparatus produces the light beam of infrared light which is transparent to the silicon material.
18. The microscope of claim 15, wherein the objective lens collects the scattered light generated in the semiconductor layers or the scattered light generated by a hole or a groove formed in the semiconductor layer.
19. An inspection apparatus for detecting a defect existing in a sample, the inspection apparatus comprising;
a stage arranged to move along a first direction and a second direction perpendicular to the first direction and to hold a sample to be inspected,
a light source apparatus for producing linearly polarized light,
a polarization maintaining fiber which is optically coupled to the light source apparatus to project the linearly polarized light emitted from the light source apparatus as an illumination beam of P-polarized light toward a sample surface,
an objective lens which is arranged so that its optical axis is perpendicular to the sample surface so as to collect scattered light emitted from the sample,
a photo detector for receiving the scattered light collected by the objective lens, and
a signal processing unit coupled to the photo detector and processing the output signals supplied from the photo detector to produce data indicative of the defect, wherein
said polarization maintaining fiber projects the illumination beam of the P polarized light at an incidence angle which is substantially equal to the Brewster’s angle of the sample.
20. The inspection apparatus of claim 19, wherein the tip of the polarization maintaining fiber is provided with an optical element for controlling the divergence angle of the illumination beam,
21. The inspection apparatus of claim 20, wherein the optical element comprises a gradient index lens which functions as a collimator lens so as to project the parallel illumination beam of P polarized light.
22. The inspection apparatus of claim 20, wherein the light source apparatus includes one or a plurality of super luminescent light emission diodes which produce incoherent light beams of the linearly polarized light.
23. The inspection apparatus of claim 22, wherein the light source apparatus includes a plurality of super luminescent light emission diodes which produce the coherent light beams of the linearly polarized light having the same wavelength or different wavelengths each other.
24. The inspection apparatus of claim 22, wherein the super luminescent light emission diodes produce the coherent light beams of the linearly polarized light having the different wavelengths each other, and wherein the illumination area of the sample surface is illuminated by the illumination beams having different wavelengths each other by selectively turning on the super luminescent light emission diodes.
25. The inspection apparatus of claim 22, wherein the plural illumination beams having different wavelengths each other are simultaneously projected toward the illumination area, and wherein the sample surface to be inspected is simultaneously scanned by the plural illumination beams having different wavelengths.
26. The inspection apparatus of claim 19, wherein the sample is a semiconductor body comprising a silicon substrate and a multilayer structure including a plurality of semiconductor layers formed on the silicon substrate, and wherein the light source apparatus produces the linearly polarized light of infrared light which is transparent to the silicon substrate.
27. The inspection apparatus of claim 26, wherein the multilayer structure including a silicon oxide layer and a semiconductor layer.
28. The inspection apparatus of claim 26, the illumination beam is projected onto the rear surface of the silicon substrate in which the multilayer structure is not formed.
29. The inspection apparatus of claim 28, wherein the objective lens collects the scattered light which is generated in the multilayer structure and transmits through the silicon substrate.
30. The inspection apparatus of claim 19, wherein during inspection, the stage moves along the first direction and second direction in zigzag fashion so that the surface of the sample is scanned by the illumination beam.
31. The inspection apparatus of claim 30, wherein the photo detector comprises an imaging sensor.
32. An inspection apparatus for detecting a defect existing in a sample, the inspection apparatus comprising;
a stage arranged to move along a first direction and a second direction perpendicular to the first direction and to hold a sample to be inspected,
a light source apparatus for producing linearly polarized light,
a plurality of polarization maintaining fibers which are optically coupled to the light source apparatus to project the linearly polarized light emitted from the light source apparatus as an illumination beams of P-polarized light toward a sample surface,
an objective lens which is arranged so that its optical axis is perpendicular to the sample surface so as to collect scattered light emitted from the sample,
a photo detector for receiving the scattered light collected by the objective lens, and
a signal processing unit coupled to the photo detector and processing the output signals supplied from the photo detector to produce data indicative of the defect, wherein
said plural polarization maintaining fibers project the illumination beams of the P polarized light at an incidence angle which is substantially equal to the Brewster’s angle of the sample.
33. The inspection apparatus of claim 32, wherein the tips of the polarization maintaining fibers are provided with an optical element for controlling the divergence angle of the illumination beam,
34. The inspection apparatus of claim 33, wherein the optical element functions as a collimator lens so as to project the parallel illumination beam of P polarized light.
35. The inspection apparatus of claim 33, wherein the light emitting ends of the plural polarization maintaining fibers are circularly arranged around the illumination area and the illumination area of the sample surface is illuminated from different angular directions.
36. The inspection apparatus of claim 33, wherein the sample is a semiconductor body comprising a silicon substrate and a multilayered structure formed on the silicon substrate, and wherein the light source apparatus produces the light beam of infrared light which is transparent to the silicon material.
37. The inspection apparatus of claim 36, wherein the illumination beam is projected toward the rear surface of the silicon substrate in which the multilayered structure is not formed.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method of refining an optical proximity correction (OPC) simulation tool for use in semiconductor fabrication, said method comprising the steps of:
designing a mask having at least one feature from a predetermined layout;
preparing a mask according to the mask design;
simulating a fabrication operation to generate a simulated mask image according to the mask design;
comparing the predetermined layout to the simulated mask image to determine at least one simulated mask error (ERRs);
creating at least one structure corresponding to the at least one mask feature on a semiconductor wafer using the mask;
measuring the at least one mask feature;
measuring the at least one structure to determine its fidelity to the layout;
comparing the measurements of the at least one mask feature and the at least one structure to determine at least one actual mask error (ERRm);
comparing the simulated mask error (ERRs) to the actual mask error (ERRm) to determine at least one fitness value;
determining, based at least in part on the at least one fitness value, whether to modify the mask design; and
revising the OPC tool based on the results of the comparison of at least one of comparing the predetermined layout step or comparing the measurement step.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein a plurality of fitness values are determined for a plurality of assessed structures.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the plurality of assessed structures includes structures of different size.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the mask comprises a plurality of optical features.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the plurality of optical features includes at least one main feature and at least one sub-resolution feature.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the at least one sub-resolution feature is associated with the at least one main feature.
7. The method of claim 5, wherein a fitness value is determined for the at least one sub-resolution feature.
8. The method of claim 4, wherein the at least one structure comprises a first plurality of structures arranged in a regular spaced apart relationship having a first pitch, and further comprising the step of determining a fitness value for the optical features corresponding to the first plurality of structures.
9. The method of claim 4, wherein the at least one structure comprises at least a second plurality of structures arranged in a regular spaced apart relationship, the at least second plurality of structures having a second pitch that is different from the first pitch, and further comprising the step of determining a fitness value for the optical features corresponding to each plurality of structures having a different pitch.
10. The method of claim 9, further comprising the step of altering the mask design based on a comparison of the determined fitness values.
11. A method of forming a semiconductor device, said method comprising the steps of:
designing a mask having at least one feature from a predetermined layout, the mask being designed using an optical proximity correction (OPC) simulation tool;
preparing a mask according to the mask design;
simulating a fabrication operation to generate a simulated mask image according to the mask design;
comparing the predetermined layout to the simulated mask image to determine at least one simulated mask error (ERRs);
creating at least one structure corresponding to the at least one mask feature on a semiconductor wafer using the mask;
measuring the at least one mask feature;
measuring the at least one structure to determine its fidelity to the layout;
comparing the measurements of the at least one mask feature and the at least one structure to determine at least one actual mask error (ERRm);
revising the OPC tool based on both the results of comparing the predetermined layout step and comparing measuring the at least one structure step;
using the revised OPC tool to design a second mask;
coating a resist material over a second semiconductor wafer;
directing radiation through the second mask to irradiate portions of the resist;
exposing portions of the second semiconductor wafer below the resist layer, the portions of the semiconductor wafer being exposed being related to the portions of the resist that were irradiated; and
processing exposed portions of the semiconductor wafer.
12. The method of claim 11, further comprising the steps of comparing the simulated mask error (ERRs) to the actual mask error (ERRm) to determine at least one fitness value, and determining whether to alter the layout prior to revising the OPC tool, wherein the step of revising the layout is based at least in part on the at least one fitness value.
13. The method of claim 11, wherein a plurality of fitness values are determined for a plurality of assessed structures.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein the plurality of assessed structures include structures of different size.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein the plurality of optical features includes at least one main feature and at least one sub-resolution feature.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein the at least one sub-resolution feature is associated with the at least one main feature.
17. The method of claim 15, wherein a fitness value is determined for the at least one sub-resolution feature.