As design geometries continue to shrink and materials become more complex, semiconductor manufacturers face a growing challenge characterizing and controlling their processes through traditional top-down metrology methodologies. These techniques are limited to surface-level information and can't provide dimensional data for buried features, or features whose critical dimensions were measured at previous steps but may change with subsequent processing. Only by performing cross-sectional metrology can these structures be characterized, providing powerful data for feed-forward manufacturing control.
FEI's CLM-3D™ [PDF 652KB] provides these needed capabilities by harnessing the power of a focused ion beam and a scanning electron microscope (SEM) to complete cross-sectional metrology at multiple sites across a wafer inline, providing data in real-time and enabling wafer return.
Learn more about FEI tools used for 3D metrology: