Jiping LiRichmond, CA

6489801, Dec 3, 2002

Apr 6, 2000

09/544280

Peter G. Borden - San Mateo CA, 94402
Regina G. Nijmeijer - Mountain View CA, 94043
Jiping Li - Mountain View CA, 94043

G01R 3126

324766, 324752, 324765, 356432, 356445

An apparatus and method uses diffusive modulation (without generating a wave of carriers) for measuring a material property (such as any one or more of: mobility, doping, and lifetime) that is used in evaluating a semiconductor wafer. The measurements are carried out in a small area, for use on wafers having patterns for integrated circuit dice. The measurements are based on measurement of reflectance, for example as a function of carrier concentration. In one implementation, the semiconductor wafer is illuminated with two beams, one with photon energy above the bandgap energy of the semiconductor, and another with photon energy near or below the bandgap. The diameters of the two beams relative to one another are varied to extract additional information about the semiconductor material, for use in measuring, e. g. lifetime.

6812047, Nov 2, 2004

Mar 8, 2000

09/521232

Peter G. Borden - San Mateo CA
Jiping Li - Fremont CA

Boxer Cross, Inc. - Santa Clara CA

H01L 2100

438 16, 356369

A structure having a number of traces passing through a region is evaluated by using a beam of electromagnetic radiation to illuminate the region, and generating an electrical signal that indicates an attribute of a portion (also called âreflected portionâ) of the beam reflected from the region. The just-described acts of âilluminatingâ and âgeneratingâ are repeated in another region, followed by a comparison of the generated signals to identify variation of a property between the two regions. Such measurements can identify variations in material properties (or dimensions) between different regions in a single semiconductor wafer of the type used in fabrication of integrated circuit dice, or even between multiple such wafers. In one embodiment, the traces are each substantially parallel to and adjacent to the other, and the beam has wavelength greater than or equal to a pitch between at least two of the traces. In one implementation the beam is polarized, and can be used in several ways, including, e. g.

6906801, Jun 14, 2005

Nov 25, 2003

10/722724

Peter G. Borden - San Mateo CA, US
Jiping Li - Fremont CA, US

Applied Materials, Inc. - Santa Clara CA

G01N021/55

356432

An apparatus measures a property of a layer (such as the sheet resistance of a conductive layer or thermal conductivity of a dielectric layer that is located underneath the conductive layer) by performing the following method: (1) focusing the heating beam on the heated a region (also called “heated region”) of the conductive layer (2) modulating the power of the heating beam at a predetermined frequency that is selected to be sufficiently low to ensure that at least a majority (preferably all) of the generated heat transfers out of the heated region by diffusion, and (3) measuring the power of another beam that is (a) reflected by the heated region, and (b) modulated in phase with modulation of the heating beam. The measurement in act (3) can be used directly as a measure of the resistance (per unit length) of a conductive line formed by patterning the conductive layer. Acts (1)-(3) can be repeated during fabrication of a semiconductor wafer, at each of a number of regions on a conductive line, and any change in measurement indicates a corresponding change in resistance of the line.

6911349, Jun 28, 2005

Feb 16, 2001

09/788273

Jiping Li - Fremont CA, US
Peter G. Borden - San Mateo CA, US

Boxer Cross Inc. - Santa Clara CA

G01R031/26
H01L021/66

438 16, 438 7, 438 14

A sidewall or other feature in a semiconductor wafer is evaluated by illuminating the wafer with at least one beam of electromagnetic radiation, and measuring intensity of a portion of the beam reflected by the wafer. Change in reflectance between measurements provides a measure of a property of the feature. The change may be either a decrease in reflectance or an increase in reflectance, depending on the embodiment. A single beam may be used if it is polarized in a direction substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the sidewall. A portion of the energy of the beam is absorbed by the sidewall, thereby to cause a decrease in reflectance when compared to reflectance by a flat region. Alternatively, two beams may be used, of which a first beam applies heat to the feature itself or to a region adjacent to the feature, and a second beam is used to measure an increase in reflectance caused by an elevation in temperature due to heat transfer through the feature. The elevation in temperature that is measured can be either of the feature itself, or of a region adjacent to the feature.

6940592, Sep 6, 2005

Oct 9, 2001

09/974571

Peter G. Borden - San Mateo CA, US
Jiping Li - Fremont CA, US
Jon Madsen - Mtn. View CA, US

Applied Materials, Inc. - Santa Clara CA

G01J003/28
G01N021/00
G01N021/55
G01N021/86
G01B011/28

356326, 3562371, 356445, 356630, 25055927

Two more measurements are made on the same workpiece, during fabrication. Each measurement may be made employing a different process. The measurements are used together to determine a property of the workpiece. For example, multiple measurements from a first process are used with a predetermined value of the property of interest in a simulator to generate a simulated value of a signal to be measured in a second process. One or more such simulated values and a measured value are used to identify a value of the property of interest. When the workpiece's property is found to not match the specification, a process control parameter used in the workpiece's fabrication is adjusted, thereby to implement process control.

7026175, Apr 11, 2006

Mar 29, 2004

10/813407

Jiping Li - Fremont CA, US
Peter G. Borden - San Mateo CA, US
Edgar B. Genio - Santa Clara CA, US

Applied Materials, Inc. - Santa Clara CA

H01L 21/66

438 14, 438 16, 438 17

Heat is applied to a conductive structure that includes one or more vias, and the temperature at or near the point of heat application is measured. The measured temperature indicates the integrity or the defectiveness of various features (e. g. vias and/or traces) in the conductive structure, near the point of heat application. Specifically, a higher temperature measurement (as compared to a measurement in a reference structure) indicates a reduced heat transfer from the point of heat application, and therefore indicates a defect. The reference structure can be in the same die as the conductive structure (e. g. to provide a baseline) or outside the die but in the same wafer (e. g. in a test structure) or outside the wafer (e. g. in a reference wafer), depending on the embodiment.

7379185, May 27, 2008

Nov 1, 2004

10/979397

Peter G. Borden - San Mateo CA, US
Jiping Li - Fremont CA, US
Edgar Genio - Santa Clara CA, US

Applied Materials, Inc. - Santa Clara CA

G01N 21/55

356445, 356635, 3562371

A patterned dielectric layer is evaluated by measuring reflectance of a region which has openings. A heating beam may be chosen for having reflectance from an underlying conductive layer that is several times greater than absorptance, to provide a heightened sensitivity to presence of residue and/or changes in dimension of the openings. Reflectance may be measured by illuminating the region with a heating beam modulated at a preset frequency, and measuring power of a probe beam that reflects from the region at the preset frequency. Openings of many embodiments have sub-wavelength dimensions (i. e. smaller than the wavelength of the heating beam). The underlying conductive layer may be patterned into links of length smaller than the diameter of heating beam, so that the links float to a temperature higher than a corresponding temperature attained by a continuous trace that transfers heat away from the illuminated region by conduction.

7465591, Dec 16, 2008

Oct 29, 2004

10/977380

Peter G Borden - San Mateo CA, US
Jiping Li - Fremont CA, US

Applied Materials, Inc. - Santa Clara CA

H01L 21/00
G01J 4/00

438 16, 356369

A structure having a number of traces passing through a region is evaluated by using a beam of electromagnetic radiation to illuminate the region, and generating an electrical signal that indicates an attribute of a portion (also called “reflected portion”) of the beam reflected from the region. The just-described acts of “illuminating” and “generating” are repeated in another region, followed by a comparison of the generated signals to identify variation of a property between the two regions. Such measurements can identify variations in material properties (or dimensions) between different regions in a single semiconductor wafer of the type used in fabrication of integrated circuit dice, or even between multiple such wafers. In one embodiment, the traces are each substantially parallel to and adjacent to the other, and the beam has wavelength greater than or equal to a pitch between at least two of the traces. In one implementation the beam is polarized, and can be used in several ways, including, e. g.