US20020008536A1 - Contactless total charge measurement with corona - Google Patents
Contactless total charge measurement with corona Download PDFInfo
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- US20020008536A1 US20020008536A1 US09/964,944 US96494401A US2002008536A1 US 20020008536 A1 US20020008536 A1 US 20020008536A1 US 96494401 A US96494401 A US 96494401A US 2002008536 A1 US2002008536 A1 US 2002008536A1
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- corona
- total
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- surface photovoltage
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- G—PHYSICS
- G01—MEASURING; TESTING
- G01R—MEASURING ELECTRIC VARIABLES; MEASURING MAGNETIC VARIABLES
- G01R29/00—Arrangements for measuring or indicating electric quantities not covered by groups G01R19/00 - G01R27/00
- G01R29/24—Arrangements for measuring quantities of charge
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- G—PHYSICS
- G01—MEASURING; TESTING
- G01R—MEASURING ELECTRIC VARIABLES; MEASURING MAGNETIC VARIABLES
- G01R31/00—Arrangements for testing electric properties; Arrangements for locating electric faults; Arrangements for electrical testing characterised by what is being tested not provided for elsewhere
- G01R31/26—Testing of individual semiconductor devices
- G01R31/265—Contactless testing
- G01R31/2656—Contactless testing using non-ionising electromagnetic radiation, e.g. optical radiation
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- G—PHYSICS
- G01—MEASURING; TESTING
- G01R—MEASURING ELECTRIC VARIABLES; MEASURING MAGNETIC VARIABLES
- G01R31/00—Arrangements for testing electric properties; Arrangements for locating electric faults; Arrangements for electrical testing characterised by what is being tested not provided for elsewhere
- G01R31/28—Testing of electronic circuits, e.g. by signal tracer
- G01R31/282—Testing of electronic circuits specially adapted for particular applications not provided for elsewhere
- G01R31/2831—Testing of materials or semi-finished products, e.g. semiconductor wafers or substrates
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- Testing Or Measuring Of Semiconductors Or The Like (AREA)
Abstract
A method of measuring total charge of an insulating layer on a semiconductor substrate includes applying corona charges to the insulating layer and measuring a surface photovoltage of the insulating layer after applying each of the corona charges. The charge density of each of the corona charges is measured with a coulombmeter. A total corona charge required to obtain a surface photovoltage of a predetermined fixed value is determined and used to calculate the total charge of the insulating layer. The fixed value corresponds to either a flatband or midband condition.
Description
- The present invention generally relates to testing a semiconductor wafer and, more particularly, to measuring a total charge of an insulating layer of the semiconductor wafer using corona charge.
- The production of insulating layers, particularly, thin oxide layers, is basic to the fabrication of integrated circuit devices on semiconductor wafers. A variety of insulating dielectric layers are used for a wide range of applications. These insulating layers can be used, for example, to separate gate layers from underlying silicon gate regions, as storage capacitors in DRAM circuits, for electrical device isolation and to electrically isolate multilayer metal layers.
- The devices, however, are very sensitive to induced charges near the silicon surface. In most cases, device performance depends strongly on the concentration of free charges in the silicon. As a result, unwanted variations in device performance can be introduced by charges in the insulating layer and the insulating layer interface. The charges can result, for example, from static charging of the insulating layer surface, poorly forming the insulating layer, excessive ionic contamination within the insulating layer, and metallic contamination within the insulating layer. In addition to degradation of device performance, electrical isolation of individual devices can be impaired by unwanted surface channels due to induced charges. A property of increasing interest, therefore, is total charge Qtot or sometimes referred to as net charge Qnet of the insulating layer.
- As illustrated in FIG. 1, there are five principle components of the total charge Qtot of an oxide layer: surface charge Qs; mobile charge Qm; oxide trapped charge Qot; fixed charge Qf; and interface trapped charge Qit. The surface charge Qs is charge on time top surface of the oxide layer and is frequently static charge or charged contaminants such as metallics. The mobile charge Qm is ionic contamination in the oxide layer such as potassium, lithium, or sodium trapped near the air/SiO2 interface or the Si/SiO2 interface. The oxide trapped charge Qot is electrons or holes trapped in the bulk oxide. The fixed charge Qf is charge at the Si/SiO2 interface. The interface trapped charge Qit varies as a function of bias condition.
- Conventional methods of determining the total charge Qtot of an oxide layer include capacitance-voltage (CV), surface photovoltage (SPV) with biasing, and SPV analysis. The CV method typically measures each of the individual component charges, except the surface charge Qs which can be measured by the CV method, with a metal contact formed on the surface of the oxide layer and then obtains the total charge Qtot by summing up the individual component charges. The SPV with biasing method uses a contacting probe separated from the oxide layer with a Mylar insulator to bias the semiconductor. The total charge Qtot is determined by measuring the required bias of the probe to force a certain SPV. The SPV analysis method takes SPV measurements and infers the total charge Qtot via theoretical modeling.
- While these methods may obtain the total charge Qtot, they each have drawbacks. The CV method requires expensive and time consuming sample preparation. The SPV with biasing method requires a contacting probe which can allow charge transfer from the oxide layer to the probe. The SPV analysis method relies on theoretical modeling and may not be extremely accurate. Additionally, the SPV methods only work over a narrow range of total charge Qtot, when the semiconductor is in depletion. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved method of measuring the total charge of an insulating layer which is contactless, is a direct measurement with no theoretical modeling, is sensitive over a wide range of total charge, and is extremely accurate.
- The present invention provides a method for measuring a total charge of an insulating layer on a substrate which overcomes at least some of the disadvantages of the above-noted related art. According to the present invention, the method includes depositing corona charges on the insulating layer and measuring a surface photovoltage for the insulating layer after depositing each of the corona charges. The method further includes determining a total corona charge required to obtain a surface photovoltage of a predetermined fixed value and using the total corona charge to determine the total charge.
- According to one variation of the method according to the present invention, the total corona charge is determined by continuing to deposit the corona charges until the surface photovoltage measured is equal the fixed value. The total corona charge then corresponds to a sum of the corona charges deposited. According to another variation of the method according to the present invention, the total corona charge is determined using a data set of discrete points, preferably by interpolation. The discrete points include the surface photovoltages measured after each of the corona charges and corresponding total corona charges deposited to obtain each of the surface photovoltages.
- These and further features of the present invention will be apparent with reference to the following description and drawings, wherein:
- FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of a semiconductor wafer illustrating principle components of a total charge of an insulating layer;
- FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an apparatus for measuring a total charge of an insulating layer according the present invention;
- FIG. 3 is an exemplary graph illustrating how the total charge can be determined by incrementally depositing a corona charge until obtaining a surface photovoltage (SPV) equal to a fixed value; and
- FIG. 4 is an exemplary graph illustrating how the total charge can be determined by interpolating a data set of measured surface photovoltages (SPV) and associated total corona charge densities.
- FIG. 1 illustrates an
apparatus 10 for testing asemiconductor wafer 12 according to the present invention. Thesemiconductor wafer 12 includes asemiconductor substrate 14 and a dielectric orinsulating layer 16 disposed on thesubstrate 14. Thesubstrate 14 is typically a silicon substrate and theinsulating layer 16 is typically an oxide layer. However, it should be understood that the method of the present invention is applicable to a variety of insulating layers grown and/or deposited on substrates of semiconductor materials or metals. An air/dielectric interface 18 is formed at the top surface of theinsulating layer 16 and a dielectric/substrate interface 20 is formed between theinsulating layer 16 and thesubstrate 14. Ameasurement region 22 of theinsulating layer 16 is selected to be tested by theapparatus 10. - The illustrated apparatus includes a
wafer chuck 24 for holding thewafer 12 during testing, a contactless calibrated corona discharge source orgun 26 for depositing corona charges, acoulombmeter 28 for measuring deposited corona charges, anSPV device 30 for measuring surface photovoltages, aposition actuator 34 for locating various components over thewafer 12, and acontroller 36 for operating theapparatus 10. Thewafer chuck 24 holds thewafer 12 during the measurement process and thewafer 12 is preferably secured to thewafer chuck 24 with a vacuum. - The
corona gun 26 includes a non-contact corona-charge depositing structure such as one ormore needles 38 and anelectrode housing 40 which, along with theneedles 38, focuses the corona discharge onto themeasurement region 22 of theinsulating layer 16. Theneedles 38 are preferably disposed a distance above thetop surface 18 of theinsulating layer 16 to minimize fringing effects and other causes of charge deposition non-uniformity. U.S. Pat. No. 5,498,974, expressly incorporated herein in its entirety by reference, discloses a suitable corona gun for depositing corona charge on an insulating layer and a suitable Kelvin probe for measuring the voltage on the surface of the layer. - The
needles 38 are connected to a charge biasing means such as a high-voltage power supply 42 via a suitable line. Thepower supply 42 provides a desired high voltage output (e.g., ±6-12 Kv) to thecorona gun 26 to produce positive or negative corona charges depending on the polarity of the supply. Thepower supply 42 is suitably connected to thecontroller 36 via an appropriate signal line for feedback control of thepower supply 42 during operation of theapparatus 10 as described in more detail hereinafter. - The
coulombmeter 28 is used to measure the deposited corona charge and preferably includes a first operational amplifier or current-to-voltage converter 44 and a second operational amplifier orcharge integrator 46. The input of current-to-voltage converter 44 is connected via a suitable signal line to thesubstrate 14 and thewafer chuck 24. A corona current Ic flows from thecorona gun 26 and through thewafer 12 to the current-to-voltage converter 44. This current Ic is converted by the current-to-voltage converter 44 to a voltage and then integrated by thecharge integrator 46 to generate a voltage proportional to the charge Qc deposited onto theinsulating layer 16 by thecorona gun 26. The outputs of the current-to-voltage converter 44 and thecharge integrator 46 are each connected to thecontroller 36 via suitable signal lines to feed the current Ic and the deposited corona charge Qc information to thecontroller 36 during operation of theapparatus 10 as described in more detail hereinafter. Note that an electrical contact between thewafer 12 and thechuck 24 because the regulating displacement currents are sufficient to perform the measurement. - The
SPV device 30 is used to measure surface photovoltages of theinsulating layer 16 and preferably includes a very highintensity light source 48 such as, for example, a xenon flash tube. It is noted, however, that other types of SPV devices can be used such as, for example, LED, laser, or AC with lock-in. - The position actuator34 is used to locate the
corona gun 26, and theSPV device 30, over themeasurement region 22 of thewafer 12. The position actuator is preferably a high-speed linear translator including a mobile carriage which selectively moves along a track disposed above thewafer chuck 24. Thecorona gun 26 and theSPV device 30, are each suitably spaced apart and attached to the carriage. A control unit is suitably connected to thecontroller 36 via an appropriate signal line for feed-back control during operation of theapparatus 10 as described in more detail hereinafter. - The
controller 36 is used to control the operation of theapparatus 10 and preferably includes aninput device 62 connected via a suitable line. Thecontroller 36 controls the high-voltage power supply 42, theSPV device 30, the Kelvin control 54, and the positionactuator control unit 60 and receives information from the current-to-voltage converter 44 and thecurrent integrator 46. Based on the method set forth hereinbelow, thecontroller 36 can provide a measurement of total charge Qtot of the insulatinglayer 16. Thecontroller 36 may be, for example, a dedicated microprocessor-based controller or a general purpose computer. - To obtain a total charge Qtot measurement for an insulating
layer 16 of asemiconductor wafer 12 according to a first method of the present invention, the actuator preferably first locates theSPV device 30 over the measuringregion 22 of thewafer 12 to obtain an initial SPV measurement VSPV of the insulatinglayer 16. Thelamp 48 is flashed and a recording of a peak intensity of the SPV transient is captured by an A/D card of thecontroller 36. Because of the high intensity output of thelamp 48, a measurable SPV can be obtained in both in accumulation and in depletion or inversion. Note that other types of SPV devices such as, for example, LED, laser, or AC lock-in amplifier can be used. - The position actuator34 next locates the
corona gun 26 over the measuringregion 22 of thewafer 12 to deposit a corona charge Qc on themeasurement region 22 of the insulatinglayer 16. Thecontroller 36 provides appropriate control signals for thecorona gun 26 to deposit a corona charge Qc. The corona charge Qc deposited on the insulatinglayer 16 is measured by thecoulombmeter 28 and recorded by thecontroller 36. - The position actuator then locates the
SPV device 30 over the measuringregion 22 of thewafer 12 to again measure the SPV VSPV of the insulatinglayer 16. The SPV measurement VSPV is preferably recorded by thecontroller 36 and compared to a predetermined target value VSPVtarget stored in thecontroller 36. Preferably, the target value VSPVtarget is equal to a fixed value (0 volts) which indicates a “flatband condition”. At flatband, no net charge is present on the insulatinglayer 16 and no space charge imaging is in thesilicon substrate 14. It should be understood that the target value VSPVtarget can be equal to fixed values other than zero. For example, the target value VSPVtarget can be equal to a fixed value (typically about ±0.300 V) which indicates a “Midband condition”. At midband, the SPV VSPV is equal to the fixed value which depends on the doping of theparticular substrate 14. - If the SPV measurement VSPV is not substantially equal to the target value VSPVtarget, the above described steps of depositing the corona charge Qc and remeasuring the SPV are repeated. If the new SPV measurement VSPV changes beyond the target value VSPVtarget from the previous SPV measurement VSPV, the
controller 36 provides appropriate control signals for thecorona gun 26 to reverse the polarity of the next deposited corona charge Qc. Note that for a target value VSPVtarget of zero volts, a change in polarity from the previous SPV measurement to new SPV measurement indicates that the polarity of the next deposited corona charge Qc should be reversed. As required, thecontroller 36 can adjust the magnitude of the next deposited corona charge Qc to obtain an SPV measurement VSPV equal to the target value VSPVtarget. - When the SPV measurement VSPV is substantially equal to the target value VSPVtarget, the
controller 36 sums each of the individual corona charge increments Qc to obtain a total corona charge Qapplied@target applied to the insulatinglayer 16 to obtain the SPV measurement VSPV equal to the target value VSPVtarget. Thecontroller 36 then determines the total charge Qtot of the insulatinglayer 16 from the total applied corona charge Qapplied@target wherein the total charge Qtot is the negative of the total applied corona charge Qapplied@target, i.e. Qtot=−Qapplied@target. - FIG. 3 illustrates an example of this first method wherein the target value VSPVtarget is zero volts, or flatband condition. A first corona charge Qc of −0.20E−07 C/cm2 is applied on the insulating layer and an SPV measurement VSPV of about 0.090 volts is obtained. A second corona charge Qc of −0.20E−07 C/cm2 is then applied on the insulating
layer 16 such that the total corona charge Qapplied is −0.40E−07 C/cm2. The second SPV measurement VSPV is about 0.100 volts. A third corona charge Qc of +0.40E−07 C/cm2 is applied on the insulatinglayer 16 such that the total corona charge Qapplied is 0.00E−07 C/cm2. The third SPV measurement VSPV is about 0.060 volts. Note that the polarity of the third deposited corona charge Qc was changed, because the SPV measurements VSPV were going away from the target value (zero) and the magnitude of the third deposited corona charge Qc was changed, specifically increased or doubled, to avoid duplicating the first measurement. A fourth corona charge Qc of +0.20E−07 C/cm2 is applied on the insulatinglayer 16 such that the total corona charge Qapplied is +0.20E−07 C/cm2. The fourth SPV measurement VSPV is about −0.100 volts. A fifth corona charge Qc of −0.10E−07 C/cm2 is applied on the insulatinglayer 16 such that the total corona charge Qapplied is +0.10E−07 C/cm2. The fifth SPV measurement VSPV is about 0.000 volts and substantially equal to the target value VSPVtarget. Note that the polarity of the fifth deposited corona charge Qc was changed because the fourth SPV measurement VSPV went past the target value (zero) VSPVtarget and the magnitude of the fifth deposited corona charge Qc was changed, specifically reduced by half, to avoid duplicating the third measurement. Therefore, the total applied corona charge Qapplied@target to obtain the target value VSPVtarget is +0.10E−07 C/cm2. Thecontroller 36 then determines the total charge Qtot of the insulating layer is +0.10E−07 C/cm2. - In a second method of measuring the total charge Qtot of the insulating
layer 16 according to the present invention, theposition actuator 34 alternately locates thecorona gun 26 and theSPV device 30 over the measuringregion 22 of thewafer 12 to deposit increments of corona charge Qc on the insulatinglayer 16 and to obtain SPV measurements VSPV of the insulatinglayer 16. Thecontroller 36 records each SPV measurement VSPV and determines and records the total corona charge Qapplied applied to the insulatinglayer 16 to obtain that SPV measurement VSPV. Therefore, a data set is obtained containing the plurality of SPV measurements VSPV along with the corresponding total applied corona charges Qapplied. Thecontroller 36 then determines the total applied corona charge Qapplied@target required for the SPV measurement VSPV to be substantially equal to the target value VSPVtarget from the data set. The value Qapplied@target is preferably interpolated from the data set of discrete points. Thecontroller 36 then determines the total charge Qtot of the insulatinglayer 16 from the total applied corona charge Qapplied@target wherein the total charge Qtot is again the negative of the total applied corona charge Qapplied@target, Qtot=−Qapplied@target. FIG. 4 illustrates an example of this second method wherein the target value VSPVtarget is zero volts, or flatband condition. A data set is obtained by incrementally depositing a plurality of corona charges Qc on the insulating layer and obtaining a SPV measurement VSPV for each incremental deposition. The illustrated data set contains 19 discrete points containing the SPV measurements VSPV and the corresponding total applied corona charges Qapplied. Thecontroller 36 interpolates the discrete points to determine that the total applied corona charge Qapplied@target at the target value VSPVtarget is about +0.10E−07 C/cm2. Thecontroller 36 then determines the total charge Qtot of the insulating layer is +0.10E−07 C/cm2. - When the target value VSPVtarget is zero volts, each of the SPV measurements VSPV are preferably corrected with a small Dember Voltage correction in either of the methods. The Dember Voltage correction is a small “second order” correction which can be applied via well known equations.
- It should be evident that this disclosure is by way of example and that various changes may be made by adding, modifying or eliminating details without departing from the fair scope of the teaching contained in this disclosure. The invention is therefore not limited to particular details of this disclosure except to the extent that the following claims are necessarily so limited.
Claims (21)
1. A method for measuring a total charge of an insulating layer on a substrate, said method comprising the steps of:
(a) depositing corona charges on the insulating layer;
(b) measuring a surface photovoltage for the insulating layer after depositing each of said corona charges;
(c) determining a total corona charge required to obtain a surface photovoltage of a predetermined fixed value; and
(d) using said total corona charge to determine the total charge of the insulating layer.
2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising the step of measuring a charge density for each of said deposited corona charges.
3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said fixed value is associated with a flatband condition.
4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein said fixed value is about 0.0 volts.
5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said fixed value is associated with a midband condition.
6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein said fixed value is about ±0.3 volts.
7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said step of determining said total corona charge includes continuing to deposit said corona charges until the surface photovoltage measured is equal said fixed value and said total corona charge corresponds to a sum of said corona charges deposited.
8. The method according to claim 7 , further comprising the step of reversing polarity of said corona charges if said surface photovoltage changes in a direction away from said fixed value.
9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said step of determining said total corona charge includes using a data set of discrete points, wherein said discrete points include said surface photovoltages measured after depositing said corona charges and corresponding total corona charges deposited to obtain said surface photovoltages.
10. The method according to claim 9 , wherein said step of using said data set includes interpolating said total corona charge from said discrete points.
11. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising the step of correcting each surface photovoltage with a Dember Voltage.
12. A method for measuring a total charge of an oxide layer on a semiconductor wafer, said method comprising the steps of:
(a) measuring a surface photovoltage of the oxide layer;
(b) depositing a corona charge on the oxide layer;
(c) remeasuring said surface photovoltage of the oxide layer;
(d) reversing polarity of said corona charge if said surface photovoltage changed away from a predetermined fixed value;
(e) repeating steps (b) to (d) until said surface photovoltage is equal to said fixed value;
(f) determining a total corolla charge deposited on the oxide layer corresponding to said surface photovoltage which is equal to said fixed value; and
(g) using said total corona charge to determine the total charge of the oxide layer.
13. The method according to claim 12 , wherein said fixed value is associated with a flatband condition.
14. The method according to claim 13 , wherein said fixed value is about 0.0 volts.
15. The method according to claim 12 , wherein said fixed value is associated with a midband condition.
16. The method according to claim 15 , wherein said fixed value is about ±0.3 volts.
17. The method according to claim 12 , further comprising the step of correcting each surface photovoltage with a Dember Voltage.
18. The method according to claim 12 , further comprising the step of selectively adjusting a magnitude of said corona charge prior to the step of repeating steps (b) to (e).
19. A method for measuring a total charge of an oxide layer on a semiconductor wafer, said method comprising the steps of:
(a) depositing a corona charge on the oxide layer;
(b) measuring a surface photovoltage of the oxide layer;
(c) determining a total corona charge density associated with said surface photovoltage;
(d) repeating steps (a) to (c) a plurality of times to obtain a data set of discrete points for the surface photovoltages and the total corona densities;
(e) using said data set to determine a total corona charge density corresponding to a surface photovoltage of a predetermined fixed value; and
(f) using said total corona charge to determine the total charge of the oxide layer.
20. The method according to claim 19 , wherein said step of using said data set includes interpolating said fixed value from said discrete points.
21. The method according to claim 18 , further comprising the step of correcting each surface photovoltage with a Dember Voltage.
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US09/964,944 US6448804B2 (en) | 1997-08-18 | 2001-09-27 | Contactless total charge measurement with corona |
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US08/912,697 US6191605B1 (en) | 1997-08-18 | 1997-08-18 | Contactless method for measuring total charge of an insulating layer on a substrate using corona charge |
US09/749,485 US6335630B2 (en) | 1997-08-18 | 2000-12-26 | Contactless method for measuring total charge of an oxide layer on a semiconductor wafer using corona charge |
US09/964,944 US6448804B2 (en) | 1997-08-18 | 2001-09-27 | Contactless total charge measurement with corona |
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US09/749,485 Expired - Lifetime US6335630B2 (en) | 1997-08-18 | 2000-12-26 | Contactless method for measuring total charge of an oxide layer on a semiconductor wafer using corona charge |
US09/964,944 Expired - Lifetime US6448804B2 (en) | 1997-08-18 | 2001-09-27 | Contactless total charge measurement with corona |
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Cited By (2)
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US20160356750A1 (en) * | 2015-06-05 | 2016-12-08 | Semilab SDI LLC | Measuring semiconductor doping using constant surface potential corona charging |
US10969370B2 (en) * | 2015-06-05 | 2021-04-06 | Semilab Semiconductor Physics Laboratory Co., Ltd. | Measuring semiconductor doping using constant surface potential corona charging |
Also Published As
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US6191605B1 (en) | 2001-02-20 |
US20010000651A1 (en) | 2001-05-03 |
US6335630B2 (en) | 2002-01-01 |
US6448804B2 (en) | 2002-09-10 |
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