Novel dark-field patterned inspection system for 0.15-/spl mu/m CMP processes

A high-throughput high-sensitivity defect-inspection system has been developed for manufacturing 0.15-/spl mu/m LSI devices and beyond. It incorporates a high-resolution imaging system with a multi-channel detector, high-resolution image optics with high-accuracy spatial filtering, and a new algorithm for setting the detection-level threshold. This system achieves a sensitivity of 0.15-/spl mu/m on front-end processes and 0.3-/spl mu/m on back-end processes. Because it can detect micro-scratches on Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP) surfaces, this system can be used to achieve a quick-feedback system for controlling the quality of CMP processes.