ABSTRACT

This chapter on ex-situ metrology covers the in-line and at-line measurements used to control processes in pilot line fabrication or in volume manufacturing of silicon based integrated circuits. Metrology for front end (transistor) processes, lithography, and on-chip interconnect fabrication technologies are all described. As a basis for further discussion, measurement precision and resolution are described, and the measurement precision to process tolerance ratio is used to evaluate metrology capability for statistical process control.