High Sensitive Optical Detection of Nano Particulate Defects with Autonomous Search-and-Split Liquid Probe

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K13841
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Production engineering/Processing studies
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: TAKAHASHI SATORU 東京大学, 先端科学技術研究センター, 教授 (30283724)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: ナノ欠陥 / ナノ計測 / 光計測 / シリコンウエハ / ナノ異物 / 欠陥検査

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We propose a new optical measurement method, which can be applied to in-process inspection for nano particulate defects on a bare semiconductor wafer surface. The proposed method is uniquely characterized by combining a volatile inert liquid as a special near-field physical response sensing probe and a far-field optical sensing, vertical resolution of which goes beyond the nano-scale. The method can provide not only autonomously detect each nano defect by an inherent property of the volatile liquid but also simultaneously detect all defects located within a viewing field of the optical observation. Both theoretical and experimental analyses verified the basic feasibility of the proposed concept.

Free Research Field

光製造科学