Complex Spatially-Resolved Reflectometry/Refractometry

a spatial resolution, reflectometry technology, applied in the direction of phase-affecting property measurement, measurement device, instruments, etc., can solve the problems of not being quantitatively coherent in most coherent diffraction imaging to date, not being able to determine the depth-dependent material properties of samples, etc., to achieve the effect of expanding the resolution of the imaging system

US20190302010A1Inactive Publication Date: 2019-10-03KAPTEYN MURNANE LAB INC
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Patent Information

Authority / Receiving Office
US · United States
Patent Type
Applications(United States)
Current Assignee / Owner
Publication Date
2019-10-03
Estimated Expiration
Not applicable · inactive patent

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Abstract

Apparatus and methods for complex imaging reflectometry and refractometry using at least partially coherent light (121). Quantitative images yield spatially-dependent, local material information about a sample (128, 228) of interest. These images may provide material properties such as chemical composition, the thickness of chemical layers, dopant concentrations, mixing between layers of a sample, reactions at interfaces, etc. An incident beam (123) of VUV wavelength or shorter is scattered off of a sample (128, 228) and imaged at various angles, wavelengths, and / or polarizations. The power of beam (123) is also measured. This data is used to obtain images of a sample's absolute, spatially varying, complex reflectance or transmittance, which is then used to determine spatially-resolved, depth-dependent sample material properties.
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Description

[0001] This invention was made with government support under grant number DMR1420620 awarded by the National Science Foundation. The government has certain rights in the invention.FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The field of the present invention is high-resolution, quantitative imaging that can elucidate the depth-dependent composition of samples. In particular, high resolution and high composition sensitivity are achieved by using sub-VUV wavelengths to perform complex imaging reflectometry or refractometry.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] Prior art in the field (US20160187849A1) has described how to perform coherent diffraction imaging with arbitrary angle of incidence, at high numerical aperture, allowing for high resolution images to be collected in transmission or reflection at any incidence angle of the illuminating beam.

[0004] Prior art in the field has described imaging reflectometers. U.S. Pat. No. 7,067,818 B2 describes an imaging reflectometer at sub-VUV wavelengths that uses ...

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Embodiment Construction

[0027]This patent is concerned with a work flow that includes the collection of scattered radiation measurements from a sample, the use of these measurements to determine the complex, spatially-resolved, absolute reflectance or transmittance of the sample in an area of interest, for the ultimate deduction of spatially-resolved material properties of the sample.

[0028]The preferred embodiment of this invention is an instrument that measures a spatially-resolved image where each pixel yields the complex, absolute reflectance or transmittance (including both amplitude and phase) of a sample from a dataset consisting of scatter data due to a sub-VUV wavelength illumination beam incident on a sample.

[0029]The instrument collects diffraction data from an at least partially reflective sample 128 or at least partially transmissive sample 228 at for a multiplicity of values of an independent parameter (multiple incidence angles, wavelengths, or polarizations). For each value of the independen...