Spectroscopic ellipsometers

This application claims priority from a provisional patent application entitled “Spectroscopic Ellipsometer Without Moving Parts” filed on Apr. 24, 2006, having an application No. 60/793,926. This application further claims priority from a non-provisional patent application entitled “Optical Focusing Devices” filed on Apr. 16, 2007, having an application Ser. No. 11/735,979. These applications are incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

The present invention relates to the inspection and measurement systems, and in particular, to optical inspection and measurement of devices under test such as semiconductor devices and/or wafers.

Spectroscopic ellipsometry is a very power optical measurement technology widely used in semiconductor manufacturing, optical coating and material analysis. The ellipsometer measures the complex ratio of reflectivity of Rp and Rs, where Rp is the reflectivity of the electrical field whose direction is in the plane of incidence and Rs is the reflectivity of the electrical field whose direction is perpendicular to the plane of incidence. Both Rp and Rs are complex number and they are wavelength dependent.

The ellipsometric quantities are defined as:

where

and

Δ=δ p −δ s

δ p and δ s are the phases of R p and R s .

In conventional ellipsometer, in measuring the ellipsometric quantities, i.e. Ψ and Δ, it is necessary to rotate one of the polarizing components (the polarizer, analyzer or compensator) in the system. This limits the speed of the measurement. In some applications, it is desirable to perform measurements for a very small area (such as measuring the thin film thickness on semiconductor wafers). It is necessary to focus the light to a very small area.

Therefore, it is desirable to have spectroscopic ellipsometers capable of focusing on a small focus spot. It is further desirable to have an ellipsometer with minimal moving parts such that measurements can be taken without moving any mechanical parts in the system.

An object of the present invention is to provide methods and devices for an ellipsometer that can focus on small focus spots.

Another object of this invention is to provide methods and devices for an ellipsometer that can simultaneously polarize, reflect, analyze, and detect several rays.

Another object of this invention is to provide methods and devices for an ellipsometer that can simultaneously polarize, reflect, analyze, and detect several rays without any mechanical moving parts.

Briefly, a method for extracting information of a device-under-test for an ellipsometer, comprising the steps of providing a plurality of incoming polarized beams using a plurality of polarizers, where each of the beams being polarized at a designated polarizing angle; using a parabolic reflector to focus said plurality of incoming polarized beams on a spot on a DUT; using a parabolic reflector to collect a plurality of beams reflected from said DUT; and analyzing said collected beams using a plurality of analyzers, wherein each of the analyzers having a designated polarizing angle with respect to its respective polarizer.

An advantage of the present invention is that it provides methods and devices for an ellipsometer that can focus on small focus spots.

Another advantage of this invention is that it provides methods and devices for an ellipsometer that can simultaneously polarize, reflect, analyze, and detect several rays.

Another advantage of this invention is that it provides methods and devices for an ellipsometer that can simultaneously polarize, reflect, analyze, and detect several rays without any mechanical moving parts.

The following are further descriptions of the invention with reference to figures and examples of their applications.

FIG. 1 is a two-dimensional conceptual illustration of a technology of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side-view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention utilizing a parabolic reflector and a polarizer and a polarization analyzers;

FIG. 3 is a top-angled view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention utilizing a parabolic reflector and a polarizer and an analyzers;

FIG. 4 is a top-view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention utilizing a parabolic reflector and a plurality of polarizers and analyzers;

FIG. 5 is a side view of an alternative embodiment of the present invention using a different reflector;

FIG. 6 is a side view of yet another alternative embodiment of the present invention using a different reflector;

FIG. 7 is another embodiment of the present invention where a beam splitter is used to direct light rays to different analyzers; and

FIG. 8 is another embodiment of the present invention where beam splitters are used to direct light rays to different analyzers.

Referring to FIG. 1 , an underlying concept of the embodiments of the present invention is explained. Given a parabola 110 disposed on a y-axis and a z-axis, conceptually, the shape of the parabola can be described be a simple mathematical function, z=ay 2 , where incoming rays parallel to the z-axis would intersect the z-axis at its focal point “F”, where the focal point is at (0, ¼a), and “a” is a constant. The incoming ray intersects the parabolic surface and it is redirected towards the focal point at the incident plane 112 (the plane that is perpendicular to the axis of symmetry and passes through the focal point, “F”).

Here, as shown, the incidental incoming light ray 114 is parallel to the axis of symmetry. The ray hits the parabolic surface and the parabolic reflector, by virtue of its properties, directs the beam towards its focal point and intersects the z-axis at intersection point “F”. After the intersection, the ray hits the parabolic surface again, and the parabolic surface re-directs the ray 118 back toward its incident direction parallel to the axis of symmetry. Due to the unique characteristic of the paraboloid, reflected ray will be always be parallel to the axis of symmetry if the incoming ray is parallel to the axis of symmetry.

Referring to FIG. 2 , a presently preferred embodiment of the present invention is disclosed. Here, a side view of an optical head is presented where the optical head comprising of a parabolic reflector 201 and a polarizer 205 and an analyzer 206 . The parabolic reflector can be manufactured as a paraboloid and cut in such a manner such that its focal point 203 is at the surface of the object 202 to be measured or tested, the device-under-test (“DUT”). The function of the parabolic reflector 201 is to focus the incoming beam 204 to the surface of the DUT 202 at the focal point 203 and collects the reflected beam from the focal point 203 . FIG. 3 illustrates a top-front view the parabolic reflector 201 with the polarizer 205 and analyzer 206 disposed at the opening of the parabolic reflector.

In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, in performing ellipsometric measurements, several polarizers and analyzers are arranged in such a manner that Rp and Rs as well as the incident power of incoming beam can be measured simultaneously. FIG. 4 shows one of such arrangements in illustrating a top view of an optical head. Here, there are eight polarizers and analyzers, 405 and 406 , 407 and 408 , 409 and 410 , and 411 and 412 , for incoming rays and reflected rays. Their polarizing axes are parallel to each other except polarizer 406 whose axis is perpendicular to the rest. In following the illustrated four rays ( 4 a / 4 b , 10 a / 10 b , 11 a / 11 b and 15 a / 15 b ), the principle of this device can be demonstrated. Here the letter “a” represents incoming rays and the letter “b” represents outgoing rays.

Each pair of the rays defines a plane of incidence. Ray 4 a passes through polarizer 405 and becomes polarized along the direction of the arrow shown. This direction is perpendicular to the incident plane 201 . After reflecting off the parabolic reflector and the focal point, the outgoing ray 4 b passes through another polarizer 406 . This ray is then received by a detector whose output is proportional to the intensity of the ray.

The principle can be further illustrated in more rigorous mathematical expression illustrated below. Let's use Jones representation for polarization.

Incident beam electrical field:

E → 0 = ( E x E y )

Polarizer:

P ↔ = ( 1 0 0 0 )

Parabolic reflector:

M ↔ = ( R p M 0 0 R s M )

Sample:

S ↔ = ( R p sample 0 0 R s sample )

Coordinate rotation matrix:

R ↔ ⁡ ( θ ) = ( cos ⁡ ( θ ) sin ⁡ ( θ ) - sin ⁡ ( θ ) cos ⁡ ( θ ) )

Analyzer:

A

↔

=

(

1

0

0

0

)

The electrical field for reflected beam:

{right arrow over (E)} D = −1 ( A ) ( A ) −1 ( P ) P ( P ) {right arrow over (E)} 0

where (A) and (P) are the rotation matrices for analyzer with angle A and polarizer with angle P. The angle is measured clockwise from the plane of incidence along the propagation of the ray.

The intensity on the detector is proportional to

It can be shown that

Here

R p =R p sample R p M R p M

and

R

s

=R

s

sample

R

s

M

R

s

M

For ray 4 a and 4 b,

A=45° and P=45°

For ray 10 a and 10 b,

A=−45° and P=45°

I 2 = I D ∝ E D · E D * = 1 2 ⁢ {  R p  2 +  R s  2 - 2 ⁢ Re ⁡ ( R p · R s * ) }

For ray 11 a and 11 b,

A=90° and P=90°

For ray 15 a and 15 b,

A=0° and P=0°

So

and

So,

and

The mirror effect can be calibrated out with a known quantity sample.

Other reflecting optics can also be used to realize the ellipsometric measurements, such as those illustrated in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 . In FIG. 5 , an incoming ray passes through a polarizer 502 , reflects off a lens disposed at 504 and another lens at 506 to focal on a focal point at 403 and a DUT 520 . After reflecting off the DUT 520 , the ray reflects off lens at 510 and lens at 504 to pass through an analyzer 512 . In FIG. 6 , an incoming ray 601 passes through a polarizer 602 , passes through a lens 604 and focuses at focal point 606 and a DUT 620 . The ray reflects off the DUT, passes back through the lens 604 and an analyzer 608 . Note that polarization analyzers can be used, where a polarization analyzer redirects incoming light into two orthogonally polarized directions.

FIG. 7 illustrates an alternative embodiment where the incident ray is linearly polarized at P=45°, and four analyzers are arranged at A=45°, −45°, 0°, and 90°. There is the incident ray 701 passing through a polarizer for P=45° 702 , which can be any lens or a parabolic mirror, reflecting off a parabolic reflector 704 at 706 to focus at focal point 708 , and reflecting off a device-under-test 720 . The reflected ray again reflects off the parabolic reflector 704 at 710 , passes to a beam splitter 712 to split off to a first analyzer for A=45° and −45° 714 and a second analyzer for A=0° and 90° 716 .

Here, for A=45° and P=45° 718

for A=−45° and P=45° 720

for A=90° and P=45° 724

and for A=0° and P=45° 722

So,

and

So,

and

FIG. 8 illustrates yet another alternative embodiment where the incident ray is linearly polarized at P=45°, and four analyzers are arranged at A=45°, −45°, 0°, and 90°. There is the incident ray 801 passing through a polarizer for P=45° 802 , which can be any lens or a parabolic mirror, reflecting off a parabolic reflector 804 at 806 to focus at focal point 808 , and reflecting off a device-under-test 820 . The reflected ray again reflects off the parabolic reflector 804 at 810 , passes to a first beam splitter 812 to split off to a second beam splitter 814 and a third beam splitter 816 . From the first beam splitter, the ray passes to analyzers for A=45° 822 and A=−45° 824 ; and from the second beam splitter 816 , the ray passes to analyzers for A=0° 818 and A=90° 820 .

While the present invention has been described with reference to certain preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to such specific embodiments. Rather, it is the inventor's contention that the invention be understood and construed in its broadest meaning as reflected by the following claims. Thus, these claims are to be understood as incorporating not only the preferred embodiments described herein but all those other and further alterations and modifications as would be apparent to those of ordinary skilled in the art.