E-beam inspection for gap physical defect detection in 28nm CMOS process

摘要

As design rule continuously shrinks, process windows narrow. Defects that are trivial in the previous technology node become yield limiting factors. E-beam inspection (EBI) starts to play a critical role in sub-design rule physical defect detection due to its superior resolution, high signal to noise ratio, and novel voltage contrast and material contrast capability. In this paper, we will demonstrate the application of EBI on three critical layers in 28nm CMOS process, covering from FEOL to BEOL.