The economic impact of choosing off-line, inline or in situ metrology deployment in semiconductor manufacturing

Metrology tools and practices are expected to migrate from off-line to inline and ultimately to in situ. Economic models are needed to study the costs and benefits of introducing new metrology technologies and to compare alternative metrology practices. Several qualitative and quantitative models are presented in this paper to study the elements of revenue and cost associated with different metrology tools and practices. Comparisons between in situ, inline and off-line metrology systems are made. Monte Carlo simulation models are used to study each system under different scenarios.