High Resolution Interferometric Optical Profiler for Submicron Linewidth Measurement

用于执行线宽测量或用于寻找小特征的几何形状的光学仪器受到与光的波长相关的分辨率的限制。基本光学理论指出，小于一半的照明波长的特征是无法解决的。然而，图像中存在的信息是关于比光学分辨率给出的更高的空间频率。通过利用反卷积、超分辨率或高分辨率显微镜技术，可以提取关于更高空间频率的信息。这项研究的目的是研究获得精确的亚微米线宽测量技术，以便在干涉光学轮廓仪中实现，希望测量范围在0.1um数量级的特征。一种适用的技术在商业产品中是有用的。可能的应用包括集成电路或集成光学器件几何形状的测量以及光盘母盘中凹坑的测量，以及磁记录头几何形状的测量。

Optical instruments for performing linewidth measurement or for finding the geometry of small features are limited by the resolution associated with the wavelength of light. Basis optical theory states that features small than one-half of the illumination wavelength are unresolvable. However, information is present in the image about higher spatial frequencies than given by the optical resolution. By utilizing deconvolution, superresolution, or high resolution microscopy techniques, information about higher spatial frequencies may be extracted. The aim of this research is to investigate techniques of obtaining accurate submicron linewidth measurement for implementation in an interferometric optical profiler with the hope of measuring features on the order of 0.1 um in extent. An applicable technique would be useful in a commercial product. Possible applications include the measurement of integrated circuit or integrated optical device geometries as well as measurement of pits in compact disk masters, and magnetic recording head geometry.