Presentation title:

Metrology and Inspection for IC manufacturing: State-of-the-art, challenges, and future trends

Shiyuan Liu

Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1037 Luoyu Road, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China

Abstract: In-line dimensional metrology and defect inspection play a critical role in the process and yield control for high-volume manufacturing of integrated circuits (ICs). In this talk, I will first review the state-of-the-art techniques for IC metrology and inspection, including thin film thickness metrology, critical dimension (CD) metrology, overlay metrology, wafer shape and stress metrology, mask defection inspection, unpatterned wafer defect inspection, patterned wafer defect inspection, and defect review. Then I will address the latest metrology and inspection challenges for the 7 nm IC node and beyond, including the never-stopped shrinking dimensions, the more complicated 3D structures such as gate-all-around (GAA) transistors and multi-layer stacked NAND architectures, and the introduction of many novel materials such as nanowires and 2D materials. Next, I will briefly report the progress carried out in our research group, emphasizing the development of Mueller matrix ellipsometry (MME) based optical scatterometry for thin film and critical dimension metrology. Finally, I will discuss the future trends in metrology and inspection for IC manufacturing, including the techniques based on ultra-short wavelengths such as EUV and X-ray.

Brief Bio: 

Prof. Shiyuan Liu received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) in 1998. He is currently the Director of Integrated Circuit Metrology and Inspection Center (ICMIC) at HUST, with research interests in the metrology, inspection, and instrumentation for IC manufacturing. He also actively works in the area of optical and EUV lithography, including partially coherent imaging theory, wavefront aberration metrology, optical proximity correction, and inverse lithography technology. He holds 42 patents and has authored or co-authored more than 150 papers. He was elected a Council Member of International Committee of Measurements and Instrumentation (ICMI) in 2015, and was awarded the National Science Funds for Distinguished Young Scholars by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC).