Patent ID: 9651369
Date: 2017-05-16
CPC Classifications: C23C,G01B,G01N

Claim:
1. A method for in-situ determination of chemical composition of films during a deposition process, comprising: (a) positioning an underlying structure in a deposition chamber, and bombarding a predetermined area of said underlying structure with an electron beam incident on a surface of said underlying structure at a first predetermined angle; (b) operatively coupling an X-ray spectrum acquisition sub-system to said surface of said underlying structure; (c) acquiring, by said X-ray spectrum acquisition sub-system, a “zero-film” X-ray spectrum produced by said underlying structure upon exposure to said electron beam prior to deposition of a film of interest on said underlying structure; (d) initiating a deposition process to deposit a material containing at least two elements A and B for the film of interest on said underlying structure, wherein said deposition process is performed in a plurality of sequential predetermined stages, each said stage for deposition of a partial thickness of said film of interest; for each of said stages, (e) acquiring, by said X-ray spectrum acquisition system, a respective X-ray spectrum emitted by said film of interest in said each stage of the deposition process; (f) analyzing said respective X-ray spectrum relative to said “zero-film” X-ray spectrum to determine at least two X-ray peaks present thereat, each of said at least two X-ray peaks corresponding to a respective element of said at least two elements A and B of said material of said film of interest; (g) computing intensities J (h) computing a ratio R (i) computing a ratio R (j) computing a ratio of concentrations C