Lateral shearing interferometry for surface profile measurement of pattern wafers

Abstract

A system may include a lateral shearing interferometer. The lateral shearing interferometer may enable measuring a surface profile of a sample, such as the pattern wafers, using reflected light from the sample. The reflected light may be reflected at a grazing incidence angle. A controller may receive images from the lateral shearing interferometer and measure the surface profile. The controller may measure the surface profile by reconstructing a phase of the reflected light from the images. The controller may reconstruct the phase using spatial reconstruction or time-domain reconstruction. The gratings may allow the controller to measure the edge roll-off in one or two dimensions. The controller may also calibrate the grazing incidence angle and determine refractive indices of thin-films on the sample. The controller may also perform full measurements of the surface profile using line beams, rectangular beams, or full-sample beams.

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