Rapid Full-Field Surface Topography Measurement of Large-Scale Wafers Using Interferometric Imaging

Rapid full-field surface topography measurement for large-scale wafers remains challenging due to limitations in speed, system complexity, and scalability. This work presents a interferometric system based on thin-film interference for high-precision wafer profiling. An optical flat serves as the reference surface, forming a parallel air-gap structure with the wafer under test. A large-aperture collimated beam is introduced via an off-axis parabolic mirror to generate high-contrast interference fringes across the entire field of view. Once the wafer is fully illuminated, topographic information is directly extracted from the fringe pattern. Comparative measurements with a commercial interferometer show relative deviations below 3% in bow and warp, confirming the system’s accuracy and stability. With its simple optical layout, low cost, and robust performance, the proposed method shows strong potential for industrial applications in wafer inspection and online surface monitoring.

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Publication Details

Journal
Photonics
Published
2025-08-22
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics12090835
Primary Topic
Optical measurement and interference techniques
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Rapid Full-Field Surface Topography Measurement of Large-Scale Wafers Using Interferometric Imaging

Yujie Su, Jiarui Zeng, Ruifang Ye, Huihui Li et al.
Photonics
Optical measurement and interference techniques
article

Rapid Full-Field Surface Topography Measurement of Large-Scale Wafers Using Interferometric Imaging

Yujie Su, Jiarui Zeng, Ruifang Ye, Huihui Li, Hai Zhang
article en

Abstract

Rapid full-field surface topography measurement for large-scale wafers remains challenging due to limitations in speed, system complexity, and scalability. This work presents a interferometric system based on thin-film interference for high-precision wafer profiling. An optical flat serves as the reference surface, forming a parallel air-gap structure with the wafer under test. A large-aperture collimated beam is introduced via an off-axis parabolic mirror to generate high-contrast interference fringes across the entire field of view. Once the wafer is fully illuminated, topographic information is directly extracted from the fringe pattern. Comparative measurements with a commercial interferometer show relative deviations below 3% in bow and warp, confirming the system’s accuracy and stability. With its simple optical layout, low cost, and robust performance, the proposed method shows strong potential for industrial applications in wafer inspection and online surface monitoring.

PhotonicsVol. 12(9)
Huaqiao University (CN), Jimei University (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, National Key Research and Development Program of China
Openalex Percentile: Top 79%
Optical measurement and interference techniques
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