Patent ID: 6303397
Filing Date: 2001-10-16
Classification: G01B,H01L,Y10T

Abstract:
A method for calibrating thin film measurement tools comprising the steps of:forming an insulation layer on a semiconductor substrate;measuring a thickness of the insulation layer using a first measurement tool;exposing the insulation layer to an ambient environment causing a contamination layer to form on the insulation layer;heating the semiconductor substrate to remove at least a portion of the contamination layer;measuring after heating a combined thickness of the insulation layer and the contamination layer using a second measurement tool;repeating the steps of heating and measuring until a measurement is obtained indicating that the contamination level has been removed; andcomparing the measured value of the thickness of the insulation layer using the second measurement tool to the measured value of the thickness of the insulation layer using the first measurement tool to benchmark the first and second measurement tools.