VeritySEM 20 Critical Dimension (CD) Metrology 

When it comes to measuring semiconductor device patterns, the CD-SEM (critical dimension scanning electron microscope) is often called “the ruler of the fab” because it produces the most precise sub-nanometer measurements and controls lithography scanners by feeding them that metrology data. CD-SEMs are used to measure the critical dimensions of patterns, such as lines and spaces, once the lithography scanner transfers them from mask to photoresist. These measurements continuously calibrate the scanner and process to ensure the patterns are correct before they are etched into the wafer. Measuring the critical dimensions of device features becomes more challenging as photoresists get thinner with EUV and especially high-NA EUV. Thinner photoresists are needed to develop mask patterns with the 10X fewer photons available compared with deep UV. Thinner resists also help prevent the densely packed lines formed with EUV from collapsing into one another. When moving to high-NA, the resists become even thinner to compensate for the depth-of-focus loss of the high-NA EUV scanner.

The Applied VeritySEM^™ 20 CD-SEM metrology platform is specifically designed to measure the critical dimensions of advanced logic and memory. The system uses industry-leading sub-nanometer eBeam resolution to quickly capture hundreds of precise CD measurements across the wafer. Industry-leading resolution and scan rate enable faster EUV scanner calibration, which helps customers accelerate process recipe development, maximize yield in HVM, and increase ROI from their large lithography module investment. Low landing energy minimizes interaction with the thinner and more delicate photoresists of EUV and high-NA EUV to preserve pattern fidelity while maintaining tight metrology production requirements.

VeritySEM 20 brings enhancements to gate-all-around (GAA) transistor, DRAM, and 3D NAND memory metrology. A multi-directional scanning scheme enables stabilized edge definition and improved edge symmetry of ultra‑thin resists for EUV and high-NA EUV layers. In parallel, it delivers 20–50% throughput improvement, depending on application, while achieving up to 25% tighter matching on 2D structures. VeritySEM 20 incorporates improved chamber contamination control, enabling contamination‑free metrology that facilitates stable scanner calibration over time. New infrastructure with an intuitive recipe‑creation flow is designed to shorten the time‑to‑recipe and improve user productivity, while AI‑based measurement optimization leads to improved recipe robustness, reduced user‑to‑user variation, and helps customers reach conclusive recipe parameters in less time.

VeritySEM is the pioneer of BSE imaging technology with the highest-resolution SEM column currently available in high-volume manufacturing.