A study on rapid development and ramp-up of high density DRAM using an advanced e-beam inspection system

This paper discusses about the effectiveness of advanced e-beam inspection. Using an e-beam inspection system, the eS20XP (SN 158) from KLA-Tencor Corporation, DRAM development and ramp-up was accelerated. This was accomplished by analyzing the yield relevant electrical defects for process optimization at the critical steps of the wafer fabrication process flow. Through case studies on Self-Aligned Contact (SAC) poly plug layers, it was demonstrated that electrical process monitoring identified key issued in early stages of device development. These case studies also assisted in defining the narrow process window for the advanced 110 nm design rule DRAM devices at Hynix Semiconductor Inc.