Out-of-plane ellipsometry measurements of nanoparticles on surfaces for thin film coated wafer inspection

Measurements of the diameter and size distribution of nanoparticles on wafers are critical parameters in the semiconductor industry, essential to control transistor quality and increase production rate. A goniometric optical scatter instrument (GOSI) has been developed that employs polarized light scattering to make measurements of the diameter and size distribution of nanoparticles on bare and thin film coated wafers. This scatter instrument is capable of distinguishing various types of optical scattering characteristics, which correspond to the diameters of the nanoparticles and thin film thickness, on or near the surfaces using the Mueller matrix calculation in Bobbert and Vlieger (1986) [1]. The experimental results of the GOSI system show good agreement with theoretical predictions for nanoparticles of diameter 100, 200, and 300 nm on wafers coated with thin films of 2, 5, and 10 nm thickness. These results demonstrate that the polarization of light scattered by nanoparticles can be used to determine the size of particulate contaminants on bare and thin film coated silicon wafers.