Patent ID: 6800852
Filing Date: 2004-10-05
Classification: G01B,G01N,H01J

Abstract:
A method for use in characterizing a film, the method comprising:providing at least one measured spectral peak shape representative of a concentration of at least one component of a film, wherein the film is formed on a substrate by a particular process defined by a set of processing conditions, wherein providing the at least one measured spectral peak shape comprises: providing a measured spectral peak shape representative of a concentration of the at least one component in the film; and providing at least another measured spectral peak shape representative of a concentration of the at least one component in at least a portion of the substrate; providing an acquired spectrum for an additional film to be characterized, wherein the acquired spectrum comprises overlapping peak areas representative of a concentration of the at least one component in the additional film and the at least one component in at least a portion of the substrate, wherein the additional film is formed on a substrate by the particular process defined by the set of processing conditions; comparing the at least one measured spectral peak shape to the acquired spectrum, wherein comparing the at least one measured spectral peak shape to the acquired spectrum comprises fitting the acquired spectrum to the measured spectral peak shape representative of a concentration of the at least one component in the film and the at least another measured spectral peak shape representative of a concentration of the at least one component in at least a portion of the substrate to extract separate acquired spectrum peak areas from the overlapping peak areas; and determining at least a thickness measurement for the film to be characterized based on the comparison.