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A novel microdetector array (MDA) for monitoring electron beam (eBeam) and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography processes in 5 nm and beyond FinFET technology is first-time presented. This on-wafer detector array consists of high-density sensing cells which are fully compatible with standard FinFET CMOS processes. Fin coupling structures and energy-sensing pads are first applied in an ultrasmall detector for realizing efficient eBeam and EUV photon detection. In advanced lithography process, eBeam or EUV level projected on the wafer can be precisely recorded on the on-wafer MDA without power or batteries. The distributions and variations on the beam intensities collected by MDA can be electrically measured in real time or inline through wafer level test after eBeam or EUV exposures. The proposed MDA is expected to provide real-time feedback for the optimization and stable maintenance of advanced photolithography processed critical to the development nanometer CMOS technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel plasma Charge Accumulative Model (pCAM) by calculating time-integrated Fowler–Nordheim (FN) tunneling charges and field of the gate dielectric in plasma processes is proposed in this paper. Our prior studies have developed and presented a quantitative FinFET plasma recording device by an effective fin-shaped field effect transistor (FinFET) contact-to-metal coupling structure to record and quantify plasma ion charges created in FinFET backend processes. In this paper, a precise analytical model is proposed to model the magnitude of plasma ion charges, time-integrated stressing field, and the criteria of the plasma process for optimum FinFET process technology. The new pCAM is highly matching with the measurement result of 16- and 7-nm FinFET wafers. The model can be adapted to practically estimate the plasma damage with different charge types, process parameters, and ion distribution; it can optimize the FinFET process and further understand the plasma damage mechanism in charging processes of 7-nm FinFET and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a novel approach for monitoring the wafer-level plasma-induced charging effect in advanced CMOS fin-shaped field effect transistor (FinFET) processes, and successfully demonstrate that ON-chip charge collectors, consisting of antenna-coupled floating gates (FGs), can record the plasma charging levels during back-end-of-the-line processes. The charge stored on these in situ recorders helps to project the actual potential on the transistor gates during plasma-charging stress. Wafer maps containing the potential distribution, as estimated by the level of positive and negative charging effects on the FGs, provide a powerful tool for future FinFET process optimization and yield additional insights for device reliability analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]