Challenges for scanning electron microscopy and inspection on the nanometer scale for non-IC application: and how to tackle them using computational techniques

In this paper key challenges posed on metrology by feature dimensions of 20nm and below are discussed. In detail, the need for software-based tools for SEM image acquisition and image analysis in environments where CD-SEMs are not available and/or not flexible enough to cover all inspection tasks is outlined. These environments include research at universities as well as industrial R and D environments focused on non-IC applications. The benefits of combining automated image acquisition and analysis with computational techniques to simulate image generation in a conventional analytical SEM with respect to the overall reliability, precision and speed of inspection will be demonstrated using real-life inspection tasks as demonstrators.