Measurement Of Width And Step-Height Of Photolithographic Product Patterns By Using Digital Holography

The semiconductor industry is one of the key industries of Korea, which has continued growing at a steady annual growth rate. Important technology for the semiconductor industry is high integration of devices. This is to increase the memory capacity for unit area, of which key is photolithography. The photolithography refers to a technique for printing the shadow of light lit on the mask surface on to wafer, which is the most important process in a semiconductor manufacturing process. In this study, the width and step-height of wafers patterned through this process were measured to ensure uniformity. The widths and inter-plate heights of the specimens patterned using photolithography were measured using transmissive digital holography. A transmissive digital holographic interferometer was configured, and nine arbitrary points were set on the specimens as measured points. The measurement of each point was compared with the measurements performed using a commercial device called scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Alpha Step. Transmission digital holography requires a short measurement time, which is an advantage compared to other techniques. Furthermore, it uses magnification lenses, allowing the flexibility of changing between high and low magnifications. The test results confirmed that transmissive digital holography is a useful technique for measuring patterns printed using photolithography.