tag: optical critical dimension

Mid-infrared Ellipsometry For Optical Critical Dimension Metrology
By Onto Innovation - 07 Apr, 2026 - Comments: 0

Abstract "Mid-infrared ellipsometry offers a powerful approach for non-destructive optical critical dimension (OCD) metrology in advanced semiconductor manufacturing. This technique supports in-line measurements of high aspect ratio structures, such as those found in 3D NAND memory devices. The incorporation of quantum cascade lasers and fast phase modulation allows rapid acquisition of Muel... » read more

Smaller Geometries, Bigger Demands: The Role Of OCD In GAA Logic And Vertical Gate DRAM Process Control
By Jiangtao Hu - 09 Dec, 2025 - Comments: 0

AI workloads are pushing the boundaries of compute, memory, and interconnect architectures, and to meet these goals, manufacturers are rapidly accelerating advanced logic and DRAM development. Chief among these innovations: gate-all-around (GAA) logic transistor and vertical gate (VG) DRAM, two device architectures that promise higher performance, improved power efficiency, and greater scalabil... » read more

Metrology Digs Deep To Produce Next-Generation 3D NAND
By Laura Peters - 09 Dec, 2025 - Comments: 1

Each generation of 3D NAND packs about 30% more bits than the previous version, with current devices storing up to 2 terabits of data in a die the size of a fingernail. With new product introductions shrinking from 18 months to every 12 months, chipmakers are constantly innovating to enable this prodigious scaling pace. 3D NAND technology is a core ingredient in mobile phones, solid-state dr... » read more

Using OCD To Measure Trench Structures In SiC Power Devices
By Nick Keller - 08 Feb, 2024 - Comments: 0

You don’t have to be a dedicated follower of the transportation industry to know it is in the early stages of a significant transition, away from the rumbling internal combustion engine to the quiet days of electric vehicles. The signs of this transition are right there on the streets in the form of electric-powered buses, bikes and cars. The road to our electric future is before us, but we w... » read more

Navigating the Metrology Maze For GAA FETs
By Gregory Haley - 08 Aug, 2023 - Comments: 1

The chip industry is pushing the boundaries of innovation with the evolution of finFETs to gate-all-around (GAA) nanosheet transistors at the 3nm node and beyond, but it also is adding significant new metrology challenges. GAA represents a significant advancement in transistor architecture, where the gate material fully encompasses the nanosheet channel. This approach allows for the vertical... » read more

A New Dimension In Optical CD
By Ilya Osherov - 15 Dec, 2022 - Comments: 0

One of the biggest challenges for nanoscale fabrication is how to measure devices on such a minute scale. As the semiconductor industry demands ever smaller devices, the need for reliable, robust measurements for quality control and process optimization increases. One robust and commonly used technique in semiconductor manufacturing is optical critical dimension (OCD) metrology. Standard, al... » read more

Using BDA To to Predict SAQP Pitch Walk
By Technical Paper Link - 08 Nov, 2022 - Comments: 0

A new technical paper titled "Bayesian dropout approximation in deep learning neural networks: analysis of self-aligned quadruple patterning" was published by researchers at IBM TJ Watson Research Center and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Find the technical paper here. Published November 2022.  Open Access. Scott D. Halle, Derren N. Dunn, Allen H. Gabor, Max O. Bloomfield, and Mark Sh... » read more

Methods To Overcome Limited Labeled Data Sets In Machine Learning-Based Optical Critical Dimension Metrology
By Onto Innovation - 07 Sep, 2022 - Comments: 0

With the aggressive scaling of semiconductor devices, the increasing complexity of device structure coupled with tighter metrology error budget has driven up Optical Critical Dimension (OCD) time to solution to a critical point. Machine Learning (ML), thanks to its extremely fast turnaround, has been successfully applied in OCD metrology as an alternative solution to the conventional physical... » read more

Nanosheet FETs Drive Changes In Metrology And Inspection
By Karen Heyman - 09 Aug, 2022 - Comments: 0

In the Moore’s Law world, it has become a truism that smaller nodes lead to larger problems. As fabs turn to nanosheet transistors, it is becoming increasingly challenging to detect line-edge roughness and other defects due to the depths and opacities of these and other multi-layered structures. As a result, metrology is taking even more of a hybrid approach, with some well-known tools moving... » read more

The Human Hand: Curating Good Data And Creating An Effective Deep-Learning R2R Strategy For High-Volume Manufacturing
By Onto Innovation - 09 Aug, 2022 - Comments: 0

Currently, the semiconductor manufacturing industry uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to take data and autonomously learn from that data. With the additional data, AI and ML can be used to quickly discover patterns and determine correlations in various applications, most notably those applications involving metrology and inspection, whether in the front-end of the manufacturing ... » read more

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