Measurement of nanodefects on Si wafer surface using system for measuring particle diameter by light-scattering method

A system measuring for nanoparticles on a silicon (Si) wafer using a light-scattering method was developed previously. The present research aims at developing a new method for measuring a scratch width of the nanometer (nm) order on a Si wafer using the developed system. In this method, the measurement of the width of a scratch was attempted by detecting the amount of scattered light obtained from the scratch and calculating the spherical volume of a particle which would approximately replace the unit volume of the scratch having a concave shape. The measurement of a nanoscratch on a Si wafer surface, where the scratch was created using an atomic force microscope (AFM) needle, was carried out using the present measuring system and an AFM. As a result, the use of this measuring system has enabled the measurement of the scratch width with a high accuracy. The measurement of scratch width on the surface of a bare Si wafer has been attempted using this measuring system. Consequently, it has been verified that this measuring system is applicable for the detection of scratch widths of nm order on a Si wafer.