Tutorial Speaker

The Role of CD-SEM in Semiconductor Processes

Hiroshi Yoshiga (Hitachi High-Tech Corporation)

Biography

I am an engineer at Hitachi High-Tech Corporation. Since 2014, I have been engaged in the development of new functions and customer support as an application engineer for critical dimension scanning electron microscopy (CD-SEM).
I have also contributed to global technical support through my overseas assignment experience.

Abstract

With the continuous advancement of semiconductor manufacturing technology, the development and mass production deployment of devices are now going into N2 (2 nm generation) and A14 (14 Å generation) technology nodes. Recently, further scaling has been accelerated by adopting high-NA EUV lithography in the patterning level; however, EUV-specific challenges remain, including line edge/width roughness and stochastic defects. In addition, in the device level, 3D integration like GAA and CFET increase its complexity. Therefore, reliable and highly accurate metrology is always required to control these processes.
This session provides an overview of the fundamentals of critical dimension scanning electron microscopy (CD-SEM), one of the key metrology tools used in semiconductor manufacturing. CDSEM is an inline electron beam tool capable of measuring the dimension and the shape of nanoscale patterns. It can automatically measure the patterns on the wafer and verify them so that they are formed according to the design. Metrology tools, represented by CD-SEM, are essential for maintaining and ensuring the performance of semiconductors.