E-beam inspection BVC (Bright Voltage Contrast) verification for 14nm technology: DI: Defect inspection and reduction

E-Beam inspection (EBI) is widely applied as in-line defect monitoring tool for 14nm semiconductor manufacturing fabs. Failure mechanisms can be identified by cross-sectioning on the specific defect detected by EBI. Dark voltage contrast (DVC) and bright voltage contrast (BVC) are two typical types of e-Beam defects. In real practice, it is much easier to validate DVC signal due to its obvious detectability. On the contrary, BVC signal verification with failure analysis is very difficult due to various possibilities of short path. Failure to accurately cross section at the right location may lead to null validation in many cases. In this paper, we demonstrate new approaches to accurately validate e-Beam BVC signal.