Patent ID: 6972852

Claim:
An apparatus for evaluating the geometry of one or more geometrical features on the surface of a wafer having at least one dimension significantly less than a micron comprising: a light for source for generating a probe beam; an optical element for focusing the probe beam to a spot overlapping the feature on the wafer surface in a manner so that the rays within the probe beam create a spread of angles of incidence and so that the probe beam is diffracted upon reflection; a detector array for monitoring the diffracted probe beam light, said detector array simultaneously generating a plurality of independent first output signals corresponding to a plurality of different angles of incidence; a measurement module selected from one of a broadband reflectometer and a broadband ellipsometer, said measurement module for optically inspecting the feature and generating a plurality of second output signals; and a processor for evaluating the geometry of the feature on the wafer based on a combination of the first and second output signals.