This invention pertains to integrated circuit technology, and more particularly to inspection systems and methods.
As integrated circuits become more dense it is necessary to decrease the dimensions of integrated circuit components. Small dimensions create the necessity to test components during fabrication to reduce failure in components. Components are fabricated on different levels of a substrate. The different levels are insulated from each other. Interconnects are formed through the insulators to components on different levels to form a working integrated circuit. This can be accomplished by etching holes in the insulating layers to connect one layer to another. In the art of integrated circuit manufacturing, these etched holes are referred to as contacts or vias.
A long standing problem in the art of fabricating integrated circuits is that of completing a process step and not knowing whether the process step completed successfully. This problem is further amplified by the smaller material dimensions. Some methods use light sources to view the etched holes but these methods have limited resolution in narrow holes for incompletely etched insulating film remaining at the bottom of the hole. If the step did not complete successfully, and the processing of the integrated circuit continues, then it is likely that at the end of the fabrication process the circuit will not work as designed. Thus, continued processing after a failed process step results in wasting the costs of processing after the failed step.
For these and other reasons, there is a need for the present invention.
The present invention includes methods and systems that include a nanotube used as an emitter in the testing and fabrication of integrated circuits. The nanotube operates as an electron emitter to generate energetic electrons that are used to inspect an integrated circuit structure, in an embodiment.
One method includes providing a nanotube emitter, using the nanotube emitter to send a signal to a substrate, and characterizing a region of the substrate based on the signal. This method is used to determine the topology of the region of the substrate such as determining whether a recess in the substrate has a proper depth or other dimensions/characteristics of the substrate. In an example, the substrate and nanotube are positioned relative to each other such that a dielectric layer with an etched recess is in a path of the signal emitted by the nanotube. Dielectric layers include one of an oxide, a nitride, borophosphosilicate, silicon-dioxides, silicon-nitrides, and tetra-ethyl-ortho-silicates. The nanotube has a small diameter tip, typically on the order of one to ten Angstroms. The nanotube is a carbon nanotube in an embodiment. The nanotube is a boron carbon nitride nanotube in an embodiment. The nanotube is a boron nitride nanotube in an embodiment. In an embodiment, the method or system of the present invention determines whether a via is completely formed by sensing the current emitted from the nanotube tip and comparing the sensed current to an expected value when the nanotube is sending its signal into a completely formed via. In an embodiment, sensing includes sensing a rate of change of the current in the substrate.
An embodiment of the method includes dry etching a substrate. In an embodiment, the dry etching creates a plurality of recesses in an insulating layer at the top of the substrate. The nanotube is moved to align with the recess such that the nanotube emits its signal into the recess and induces a current in the substrate. The current in the substrate is sensed to determine the characteristics of the recess. If the recess is not completely etched then the nanotube creates a further etching to clean out the bottom of the recess in an embodiment. In an embodiment, the nanotube generates localized plasma by emitting a high energy signal. The plasma can be created from a rare gas adjacent the nanotube. The plasma includes ions that are physically driven into the bottom of the recess to further etch the incompletely etched recess. In an embodiment, the current through the substrate is simultaneously sensed. When the further etching reaches the desired depth of the recess the current in the substrate reaches a desired value, typically its maximum. At this point the further etching by the nanotube is stopped.
The systems include a nanotube or a plurality of individual nanotubes. The plurality of nanotubes is individually actuatable in an embodiment. The nanotube includes any of the features described above with regard to the method. A system for testing integrated circuit substrates includes a nanotube emitter assembly adapted to transmit an electrical signal to a substrate, and a current sensor electrically coupled to the nanotube emitter assembly. The current sensor is adapted to sense the current induced in the substrate by the electrical signal transmitted by the nanotube emitter assembly. In an embodiment, the nanotube emitter assembly includes a carbon nanotube. In an embodiment, the carbon nanotube is a boron carbon nitride nanotube. In an embodiment, the carbon nanotube is a single walled nanotube. In an embodiment, the nanotube emitter assembly includes a boron nitride nanotube. In an embodiment, the nanotube emitter assembly includes an aluminum nitride nanotube. The system further includes a controller adapted to spatial position the nanotube relative to the substrate. The current sensor senses the charge/discharge time of the current input into the substrate by the nanotube emitter.
In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that structural, logical and electrical changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The terms wafer and substrate used in the following description include any base semiconductor structure. Both are to be understood as including silicon-on-sapphire (SOS) technology, silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology, thin film transistor (TFT) technology, doped and undoped semiconductors, epitaxial layers of a silicon supported by a base semiconductor structure, as well as other semiconductor structures well known to one skilled in the art. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims.
The inspection system 100 operates to examine the substrate 110 to determine the topology of the surface of substrate 110. In an embodiment, the system determines the extent and/or completeness of the etching of layer 120 to form a recess 121. An emitter support 131 includes a nanotube emitter 133 that, due its nano-dimensioned tip, emits an electron stream 134 toward the substrate surface and in particular into a recess 121. Nanotubes are suited for the purpose of inspecting narrow dimension recesses used in integrated circuits. The nanotube is a carbon nanotube in an embodiment. One example of a carbon nanotube is a boron carbon nanotube. A further example of a nanotube is a boron nitride nanotube. A further example of a nanotube is an aluminum nitride nanotube. A further example is a doped nanotube. The doped nanotube is electrostatically doped to form two halves of a single nanotube with each half having a different dopant. This essentially creates a diode configuration. The nanotube emitter 133 includes a tip that provides a high intensity source for electrons. The tip has a width of about ten angstroms in an embodiment to focus the electron stream. Such a nanotube has a field emission of a 2V/mm and can produce current densities on the order of about tenths of amps per square centimeter. These nanotube emitters may produce current densities as high as one amp per square centimeter. In an embodiment, the nanotube is a single walled nanotube (“SWNT”) with a diameter of about 1 nm or less and a length greater than about one to three orders of magnitude greater than the diameter. In an embodiment, the SWNT has a diameter of about 3 nm-8 nm. In an embodiment, the SWNT has a current density of greater than or about 2 MA/cm2. In an embodiment, the electric field is greater than three V/μm.
A controller 135 is connected to the nanotube support 131. The controller 135 operates to control the relative position of the nanotube 133 relative to the substrate 110 and recesses 121. In an embodiment, the controller includes a stepper that sequentially moves the nanotube 133 into alignment with the recesses 121 such that the nanotube 133 directs its electron stream 134 to one recess and then to another recess after completing the testing/evaluation of the prior recess. The controller 135 further includes a voltage source that applies a voltage to the nanotube 133 to create the electron stream 134.
An inspection current sensor 115 is electrically connected to the substrate 110. The current sensor operates to sense current flow from the nanotube 133 through the substrate 110. The current sensor is a circuit capable of sensing current or the rate of change of a current signal. In an embodiment, sensor 115 is an ammeter or a calibrated ammeter. In an embodiment, sensor 115 is a computer system capable of measuring current or the rate of change of a current signal.
In operation, the controller 135 aligns the nanotube 133 with a recess 121. The controller 135 moves the support 131 and, hence, nanotube 133 in three dimensions as indicated by the axis shown above controller 135 in
To form the electrical communication lines, recesses 121 are etched into the insulating layer, 505. One form of etching is a wet etching process that uses masks on the insulating layer to pattern layer and solutions of chemical that remove the unmasked portions of the insulating layer. Another form of etching is dry etching. Dry etching does not use solutions on or immerse the substrate in a bath to form the recesses as wet etching does. Dry etching generally uses ion bombardment or a chemical reactive method to form the recesses, e.g., 121 in
The recesses are now tested for complete etching using the systems and methods using nanotubes as emitters as described herein in accordance with embodiments of the present invention, 507. The testing is performed inline without removing the substrate from the fabrication equipment or process flow. This improves reliability by testing without adversely effecting throughput of the fabrication process. The testing aligns a nanotube emitter with a recess and transmits an electron beam into the recess. The current in the substrate is measured. A determination whether the vias or recesses are completely etched, 509, by comparing the sensed current in the substrate with an expected value. The expected value is determined experimentally by testing a known substrate architecture with the nanotube emitter inspection system. If the recesses are completely etched, then the substrate continues on to a subsequent fabrication process, 511.
If it is determined that the recesses are not completely etched, then substrate undergoes a corrective etching process, 513. If the mask remains in the substrate, the substrate is returned to the dry etching process and the dry etching is repeated. This repeated dry etching process is desirable if there are a significant number of recesses that require further etching and the further dry etching will not further undesirably etch or damage the completed recesses. As an alternative, the nanotube emitters are used to dry etch only the incompletely etched recesses. A rare gas environment is introduced into the chamber having the substrate and the inspection system 105. The nanotube emitter associated with the incompletely etched recess or via uses its field emission to charge the insulating material remaining in the recess while simultaneously causing electron impact by the rare gas species. That is, the nanotube emitter dry etches the recess in a localized manner. Essentially, this process is a highly localized sputtering in the recess to remove the remaining insulating layer from the bottom of the recess. The field emission for the nanotube emitters is higher than the emission for testing the completeness of the recess. In an embodiment, the current sensed by the current sensor should steadily increase as the insulating material in the recess is removed by the localized dry etching by the nanotube emitter. It is desirable to limit the magnitude of the field emission from the nanotube to selectively remove the insulating material but not remove the material, e.g., contact, at the surface of the substrate. Once the reading at the current sensor reaches the desired value that corresponds to the energy input to the cleared recess by the nanotube as it travels through the substrate (e.g., voltage drop), then the nanotube emitter ends its creation of the localized dry etching.
The value of the current sensed by the current sensor can further be saved in a database that provides the ability to track defects and to analyze the fabrication process. This data analysis is important to the quality of the manufactured material. Variations in production conditions can cause entire lots of product to be discarded, wasting valuable production time and money. Quick data analysis based on the measured signals may avoid wholesale scrapping of chips. The measured signals may be correlated with other fabrication data, which includes at least one of parametric production data, film thickness data, critical dimension data, and changes to any parameter in the fabrication data, and any other data that is relevant to the production process and its condition. This data may be analyzed for trends and other statistically valid measures.
If the comparison of the measured signals matches the stored values, then the substrate continues fabrication processing, 605, e.g., depositing additional layers, dicing, packaging, etc. However, if the comparison indicates a defect, then the process decides whether corrective processing can be performed on the defect, 607. If the defect is one on which corrective processing can not be performed, then the substrate is scrapped at this point in processing, 609. Scrapping means removing the substrate from further processing so that time and materials are not wasted on a known defective substrate. If corrective processing is available, then the corrective processing is performed, and the substrate is returned to the inline testing, 603. Corrective processing includes the use of the nanotubes to further etch the surface of the substrate to remove some material on a localized, i.e., nanometer, basis.
In a further embodiment of the present invention, the current leaving the nanotube emitter 133 is measured. The current leaving the nanotube will vary according to the material on the substrate surface being impinged by the electron stream emitted by the nanotube. This is based on the field emission properties of the nanotube.
Various embodiments of processes and systems for measuring the surface voltage have been described above. Some of these processes and methods can be used in connection with the measurement of a surface voltage of semiconductor substrate 715. Measurement system 700 has the advantage that semiconductor substrate 715 is not removed from plasma etch chamber 705 before making a surface voltage measurement, and therefore reduces the overall manufacturing time for the substrate.
Embodiments of the invention may be implemented in one or a combination of hardware, firmware, and software. Embodiments of the invention may also be implemented as instructions stored on a machine-readable medium, which may be read and executed by at least one processor to perform the operations described herein. A machine-readable medium may include any mechanism for storing or transmitting information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). For example, a machine-readable medium may include read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), magnetic disc storage media, optical storage media, flash-memory devices, electrical, optical, acoustical or other form of propagated signals (e.g., carrier waves, infrared signals, digital signals, etc.), and others.
The Abstract is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R. Section 1.72(b) requiring an abstract that will allow the reader to ascertain the nature and gist of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to limit or interpret the scope or meaning of the claims.
In the foregoing detailed description, various features are occasionally grouped together in a single embodiment for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments of the subject matter require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus, the following claims are hereby incorporated into the detailed description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate preferred embodiment.
This application is a Divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/216,541 filed Aug. 31, 2005 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,662,648, which is incorporated in its entirety herein by reference.
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