AMAG7 Reference Wafers
IP-neutral Metrology & Process Reference Artifact Source
Challenging and/or diagnostic samples, representing leading edge of key semiconductor technologies, are crucial for application development, for developing, evaluating, monitoring & calibrating equipment, and for collaborating with other entities. Access to such samples also determines which experiments are possible and what can be published externally versus internally, and can limit advertising options. These needs were previously addressed by SEMATECH AMAG, but this solution is no longer available in the market.
AMAG nanometro's AMAG7 advanced metrology patterning reticle fills this market need, providing a suite of key metrology diagnostic and experimental content to the industry.
Return of AMAG Wafers With AMAG7
The AMAG7 reticle is a comprehensive new advanced metrology patterning reticle and test pattern collection, derived from SEMATECH AMAG’s AMAG4/5/6 and modernized to today’s metrology and processing community’s needs. AMAG7 makes available short-loop reference wafers with the comprehensive AMAG7 patterned into various modern process levels at NY CREATES, which operates the most advanced, publicly-owned semiconductor R&D facility in the United States – the Albany NanoTech Complex, to make available leading-edge, mission-critical yet IP-neutral test samples/artifacts for metrology or processing R&D needs.
AMAG7 Overview
AMAG7 is the culmination of evolution of SEMATECH AMAG’s well-known flexible set of reticles for metrology-centric wafer designs, combining the best features from SEMATECH’s AMAG4, AMAG5 & AMAG6, but updated to current needs with new content to address new use cases for updated content for many new applications.
AMAG7's main content is mostly all-big gratings, 547 x 0.8 mm large line/space & hole/dot arrays measurable by any tool type, from resolution limit (lines 40nm, holes 60 nm) up to 1 µm feature sizes in many steps from 1:1 dense to 9:1 isolated pitches, covering most design rules achievable by iArF lithography. Dots and holes also include hexagonal hole formations. AMAG7 also includes OPC & DOE of pitchwalk & 2D random polygon fields for contour/EPE/D2D testing, many custom gratings with interesting content such as intentional roughness & added variation, 2-level overlay for FinFET or dual damascene VIT, variable film pads, e-test module, cleavibles, navigation arrays, and more. AMAG7 is measurable by any scattering metrology including CD-SAXS, GI-SAXS, OCD, or grating XRD, any imaging metrologies such as CD-SEM/AFM, large FOV SEM, HV-SEM, or others. These features enable collaboration & correlation studies among any metrology tools of any vendors or across the industry.
AMAG7 wafers at various foundry process steps are purpose-built for tool characterization exercises including optimization, development, calibration, monitoring, round-robin comparisons, gauge testing for repeatability or precision, accuracy, matching, navigation, pattern recognition, for 3D profile and process characterization.
AMAG7 reference wafers are shipped to customers fully characterized in-fab with large statistically-valid sampling plans, including CD-SEM measurements of an anchor target or more, on all die of all wafers, so that customers know upon shipment a given wafer is representative of a given process to great certainty. AMAG7 anchor pitches have been carefully checked for pitch calibration against NIST pitch calibration samples. These thus allow correlation studies among metrologies to be conducted directly to the CD-SEM reference measurements, or regressions against any other results sets from other customers on same-type wafers, using the common CD-SEM reference as the intermediary. Full round robin studies can be arranged among many participants, without need for sharing a single wafer.
AMAG7 Lithographic Performance
- Line/space target: Most line/space content prints down to 100 nm pitch. 2D shapes better at 120 nm pitch. Holes 100 nm and above also pattern on same wafer.
- Hole target: Most square array hole content prints down to 120 nm pitch. Hex hole content patterns fine at C70P140HEX. Trenches of 120 nm pitch are also patterned successfully on same wafer after lithography.
AMAG7 Reference Wafer nanofoundry
AMAG nanometro has revived and improved upon the SEMATECH AMAG traditional enablement activity of providing the industry a source for easy-to-use IP-neutral metrology reference artifacts representative of key or challenging modern process levels.
Metrology-centric reference wafers built with AMAG7 and patterned into various materials & applications are now available for order for various applications for the development and tool supplier community, and new products leveraging the AMAG7 pattern can be developed to meet specific customer needs.
The AMAG7 reticle is usable with many processes at various foundries allowing for many different products with very flexible form factor. Its flexible design means the AMAG7 reticle should stay pertinent for many years, as with earlier AMAG reticles.
AMAG7 Types Available Now
- HARhole etched hole features, 1 µm & 1.5 µm depth, C60P120 anchor
- Oxide HM/LS: Etched line/space hardmask pattern, 100 nm height oxide features, L50P100 main target
- Oxide HM/hole: Etched hole/via/trench hardmask pattern, 100 nm height oxide features, C60P120 main target
- Etched line/space GI-SAXS chiplets, 70 nm height oxide lines L40P100
- Photoresist exposures for either line/space or hole lithographic conditions
- Options for conformal films on above topographies.
- More process levels available in future, as developed.
