Influence of e-beam aperture angle on critical dimensions-scanning electron microscopes measurements for high aspect ratio structure

Abstract. The influence of the e-beam aperture angle on the critical dimensions (CD)-scanning electron microscope measurements for a high aspect ratio (AR) structure is investigated. The Monte Carlo simulator JMONSEL is used for evaluating the measurement sensitivity to the variation in the bottom CD. The aperture angle of the primary electron greatly influences the measurement precision of the bottom CD in the high AR structure. Then, we applied an energy-angular selective detection technique to the Monte Carlo simulation results and found that the measurement sensitivity for the large aperture angle was improved. In addition, the experimental results are qualitatively consistent with the results of the Monte Carlo simulation. These results indicate that the energy-angular selective detection technique is effective for improving the measurement resolution of CD at trench bottom of a high AR structure and the technique is also useful for the overlay measurement during after-etch inspection.