Advanced Functions for Semiconductor Metrology

The AM (Automated Measurement) module adds advanced semiconductor metrology functions to the Quartz PCI software that automate feature measurements in electron microscope images.

Unlike tools designed for in-line metrology using top view images such as CD-SEMs, PCI-AM is particularly well suited for measuring semiconductor features in cross-section and top view images from SEMs (X-SEM) and TEMs in laboratory, process development and engineering environments. Multiple edge detection techniques are employed depending on the nature and source of the image.

Very little set-up is required before you can be making fast, efficient automatic image measurements.

What's NEW in QUARTZ PCI-AM 9

Template Matching:

You can design templates in our template editor and PCI-AM will find and measure all of the template instances in your images.

Lock Existing Measurements:

You can lock or “finalize” existing measurements so that edge detection parameters can be adjusted between measurements without affecting existing measurements and so that measurements can overlap with each other.

Labeling:

You can specify that feature labels should be shown on the image.

Tolerances:

Out of tolerance measurements are highlighted on the image.

Colors and Fonts:

You can specify the colors and fonts used for measurements within the settings for each measurement.

Vertical Reference Lines:

You can add vertical reference lines to your image that can be used as endpoints for horizontal measurements. You can also specify the location of the X origin.

Improved Point-and-Shoot:

The point-and-shoot measurements have been improved:

Measurements recalculate when moved.
Holding down the Ctrl key and dragging a point-and-shoot tool will automatically perform a specified number of equidistant measurements between the end points of the specified line.
Holding down the Shift key and dragging a point-and-shoot tool will automatically measure all segments between the endpoints.
The endpoints of each point-and-shoot measurement are recorded in the measurement grid and output to the CSV file.

Improved Measurements:

In addition to measuring the maximum depth and height of trenches and pillars, you can choose to measure the depth and height at the center of the feature.
Similarly, in addition to measuring the Maximum and minimum caliper of shapes, you can measure the maximum width and height or the width and height through the geometric center of the shape.
A multipoint measurement has been added to the shape tool that allows you to Measure a specified number of widths across the shape.
A radius of curvature measurement has been added.
A pitch measurement has been added.
The collinearity measurement now outputs signed values.
You can press the Shift key to make a measurement on top of a reference line instead of moving the reference line.
A checkbox is provided on the File Export dialog to export measurements.

Filters:

A bilateral filter has been added to the preprocessing filters available. The bilateral filter smooths the image while preserving edges. The speed of filtering operations has been increased.

Preprocessing:

You can choose to perform autorotation, rotation by arbitrary angle, tilt correction or auto histogram immediately upon entry to AM mode or in batch processing.
The Process | Rotate | Align Horizontal Reference function can be used to rotate the image so as to make the horizontal reference line horizontal.

Batch Mode:

Batch mode sorts measured images into separate Pass, Fail and Reject folders.
Exact match of image sizes is no longer required in batch mode.

Menus:

The PCI-AM functions have been moved to a separate Feature menu for ease of access and to reduce complexity.

Semiconductor Features

Tools are provided for automatically measuring layers, trenches, pillars, lines, spaces, complex features and 2D shapes, such as contact holes and vias. Within these features, you can measure widths and heights (critical dimensions), sidewall and center angles (in multiple regions), edge roughnesses, line width roughnesses, and other geometric properties.

Edge Detection

Three different edge detection techniques are available allowing analysis of both SEM and TEM images. Noise reduction filtering is also available to improve results with noisy images. A setting is also available that causes the standard Quartz PCI Image Measurement tools to snap to the detected edges.

Three Levels of Automation

The system offers three levels of automation. In the first instance, engineers simply click inside a device feature and the feature is automatically measured in accordance with a "recipe" that has been set up. In the second instance, once multiple features in an initial image have been measured, the same features can be measured in subsequent images with a single click. The system automatically adjusts for misalignment among the images. The third and newest level of automation allows engineers to automatically characterize an entire folder of images.

Benefits of Automatic Semiconductor Metrology

Save Time and More

With PCI-AM, dozens of semiconductor feature measurements on an image can be reduced to a single mouse click, resulting in very significant time savings versus manual measurements. In addition, inaccuracies and inconsistencies among engineers can be reduced. PCI-AM also simplifies data collection and aggregation through its options to export metrology data to spreadsheet files.

Data Collection

The measurement results are displayed on the image and in a spreadsheet grid. The data in the grid can be easily exported into a CSV file suitable for importation into other software such as Microsoft Excel allowing for further statistical analysis. Data from multiple images can be aggregated into a single spreadsheet file. The images and data can also be easily included in standard Quartz PCI reports with just a few clicks.

Custom Development

Quartz Imaging has a long history of providing specialized metrology solutions to the semiconductor industry. If you have unique measurement requirements, we would be delighted to discuss development of a custom metrology solution with you.

Quartz PCI-AM Automated Semiconductor Metrology System: Key Benefits

Saves time for Engineers
Ensures more accurate and consistent measurements
Data export is very easy
Quick report generation
We can custom develop for your specific requirements