Title: Quantitative assessment of subsurface damage depth in silicon wafers based on optical transmission properties

Authors: J.M. Zhang, J.G. Sun

Addresses: Deparment of Industrial & Manufacturing Systems Engineering, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA. ' Energy Technology Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439, USA

Abstract: As a nondestructive evaluation method, laser scattering has been applied for subsurface damage measurement in silicon wafers. Previous results showed that laser scattering can detect and distinguish subsurface damage of different depths. However, quantitative correlation between scatter data and subsurface damage depth has not been established. This paper presents an analysis on how to use the |skin depth| to correlate optical scattering data obtained at different wavelengths with subsurface damage depth in silicon wafers. The results clearly demonstrate that subsurface damage depth in silicon wafers can be quantitatively assessed by the laser scattering nondestructive evaluation method.

Keywords: silicon wafers; subsurface damage; laser scattering; optical transmission; nondestructive evaluation; semiconductor manufacturing.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMTM.2005.007702

International Journal of Manufacturing Technology and Management, 2005 Vol.7 No.5/6, pp.540 - 552

Published online: 02 Sep 2005 *

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