Thin film head (TFH) manufacturers are constantly striving to improve process control, eliminate scrap material and reduce the total cost of manufacturing their devices. Successful measurement and control of the Pole 2 Resist structure is a critical component of the TFH process which directly impacts disk drive performance, reliability and final product cost. Until recently, white light optical metrology systems have been the only option for measuring the Pole 2 structures. However, recent advances in TFH process technology have resulted in aspect ratios up to 10:1 which has limited the ability of the white light optical metrology systems. IVS has developed a unique metrology solution to image and measure these high aspect ratio structures utilizing the IVS-200^TM CD SEM. This technology provides state of the art measurement performance for repeatability and stability which in turn has provided manufacturers with the ability to monitor the Pole 2 process and reap both technical and financial benefits.

Date Published: 21 May 1996
PDF: 10 pages
Proc. SPIE 2725, Metrology, Inspection, and Process Control for Microlithography X, (21 May 1996); doi: 10.1117/12.240132

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 2725:
Metrology, Inspection, and Process Control for Microlithography X
Susan K. Jones, Editor(s)