The "Improved Infrared Interferometer" (IR³) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is a phase-measuring interferometer, operating at a wavelength of 1550 nm, which is being developed for measuring the thickness and thickness variation of low-doped silicon wafers with diameters up to 300 mm. The purpose of the interferometer is to produce calibrated silicon wafers, with a certified measurement uncertainty, which can be used as reference wafers by wafer manufacturers and metrology tool manufacturers. We give an overview of the design of the interferometer and discuss its application to wafer thickness measurements. The conversion of optical thickness, as measured by the interferometer, to the wafer thickness requires knowledge of the refractive index of the material of the wafer. We describe a method for measuring the refractive index which is then used to establish absolute thickness and thickness variation maps for the wafer.

Date Published: 9 December 2005
PDF: 5 pages
Proc. SPIE 6024, ICO20: Optical Devices and Instruments, 602426 (9 December 2005); doi: 10.1117/12.666951

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 6024:
ICO20: Optical Devices and Instruments
James C. Wyant; X. J. Zhang, Editor(s)