Leveraging applied materials TechEdge Prizm™ for advanced lithography process control

Presently the CDSEM metrology tool continues to be the “ruler of the fab” providing metrology at over 100 steps along the way to building a modern semiconductor product. We explore the history of data volume generated with Fab CDSEM fleets. As we quantify the size of the fleet dataset, it becomes clear why historically only a subset of the rich dataset is ever utilized. We review what the treatment of the data using modern “big data” analytics and enterprise level server hardware does to accelerate development learning, increase engineering turns per day and raise the velocity of accurate manufacturing feedback. This paper further explores ways to leverage TechEdge Prizm to extract more value out of metrology for Lithography process control. The paper will describe some of the challenges facing the changing Lithography metrology landscape and how Prizm delivers tailored analysis for these challenges. Results at a customer site demonstrate that various types of analysis of CDSEM images and data are 10 times more efficient and thorough than traditional methods.