EUV multilayer defects reconstruction based on the transport of intensity equation and partial least-square regression

Multilayer defects which reside on the top or inside the multilayer are one of the most critical concerns in the extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) manufacturing process. We proposed the transport of intensity equation and partial least-square regression (TIE & PLSR) method to inspect the defect and reconstruct its geometric parameters: height and full width at half maximum (FWHM). The transport of intensity equation (TIE) is employed to retrieve the phase of the multilayer defect from the two scattering images, which collected at two adjacent propagation distances. Comparing the simulated ideal phase, the phase deformations caused by different top heights and widths of the defects are analyzed. The optical properties maximum, minimum and fitting Zernike coefficients are used to parameterize the phase deformation. Partial least-squares regression (PLSR) is applied to associate the optical properties of the phase deformation with the geometric parameters of the defects, and reconstruct geometric parameters of the measured defect from the established data library. The reconstruction error is less than 0.2% in simulation experiment.