A method of pattern alignment is provided. The method includes identifying a reference pattern positioned below a working surface of a wafer. The wafer is exposed to a first pattern of actinic radiation. The first pattern is a first component of a composite pattern. The first pattern of actinic radiation is aligned using the reference pattern. The wafer is exposed to a second pattern of actinic radiation. The second pattern is a second component of the composite pattern and exposed adjacent to the first pattern. The second pattern of actinic radiation is aligned with the first pattern of actinic radiation using the reference pattern.

An apparatus for measuring a position of a mark on a substrate, the apparatus comprising: an illumination system configured to condition at least one radiation beam to form a plurality of illumination spots spatially distributed in series such that during scanning of the substrate the plurality of illumination spots are incident on the mark sequentially, and a projection system configured to project radiation diffracted by the mark from the substrate, the diffracted radiation being produced by diffraction of the plurality of illumination spots by the mark; wherein the projection system is further configured to modulate the diffracted radiation and project the modulated radiation onto a detecting system configured to produce signals corresponding to each of the plurality of illumination spots, the signals being combined to determine the position of the mark.

Disclosed is a method of determining a sampling scheme. The method comprises obtaining a parallel sensor description and identifying a plurality of candidate acquisition configurations based on said parallel sensor description and potential metrology locations. Each of said candidate acquisition configurations is evaluated in terms of an evaluation metric and a candidate acquisition configuration is selected based on said evaluation. The corresponding metrology locations for the selected acquisition configuration is added to the sampling scheme.

Embodiments described herein may be related to apparatuses, processes, and techniques related to using full stack overlay cell (FSOL) targets within lithography masks and on fabricated layers of a substrate in order to align or to assess the alignment of fabricated layers of the substrate during the substrate manufacturing process. Other embodiments may be described and/or claimed.

As feature sizes of semiconductor chips shrink there is a need for tighter overlay between layers in a lithography process. This means more advanced and larger overlay corrections may be necessary to ensure that die are properly manufactured into chips, especially in reconstituted substrates where the die can shift in the process of creating the substrate. Systems and methods for correcting these overlay errors in a lithographic process are provided. Additional rotation (theta) and projected image size (mag) corrections can be made to correct overlay errors present in reconstituted substrates by adjusting the stage and the reticle. Furthermore, these adjustments can be made allowing site-by-site or zone-by-zone corrections instead of a one-time adjustment of the reticle chuck as has been done in the past. These corrections can alleviate some of the issues associated with fan-out wafer-level packaging (FOWLP) and fan-out panel-level packaging (FOPLP).

The present disclosure provides an overlay mark, an overlay error measurement method for a wafer, and a wafer stacking method. The overlay mark includes a first overlay mark disposed on a first layer, and a second overlay mark disposed on a second layer. The first layer and the second layer are stacked. The first overlay mark includes at least one first overlay sub-mark, and each of the at least one first overlay sub-mark is circular in shape. The second overlay mark includes a second overlay sub-mark, and the second overlay sub-mark is in a center-symmetrical shape including a plurality of linear graphics.

According to one embodiment, an exposure device includes a stage, a measurement device, and a control device. For exposing a substrate, the control device calculates a first coefficient corresponding to a magnification positional misalignment in a first direction and a second coefficient corresponding to a magnification positional misalignment in a second direction based on measurement of at least three alignment marks. The control device can use the first coefficient to correct the magnification positional misalignment in the first direction and a third coefficient set based on the first correction coefficient to correct the magnification positional misalignment in the second direction. The control device can use a fourth coefficient set based on the second coefficient to correct the magnification positional misalignment in the first direction and the second coefficient to correct the magnification positional misalignment in the second direction.

The present invention provides a detection apparatus for detecting a position of a detection target including a diffraction grating pattern, comprising: an illuminator configured to illuminate the detection target with illumination light including a plurality of wavelengths; a wavelength selector including an incident surface on which diffracted light from the detection target is incident, and configured to select light of a specific wavelength from the diffracted light; and a detector configured to receive the light of the specific wavelength selected by the wavelength selector and detect the position of the detection target, wherein positions on the incident surface where light components of the plurality of wavelengths included in the illumination light are incident are different from each other, and wherein the wavelength selector controls each of the plurality of elements in accordance with the position on the incident surface.

A method for selecting an optimal set of locations for a measurement or feature on a substrate, the method includes: defining a first candidate solution of locations, defining a second candidate solution with locations based on modification of a coordinate in a solution domain of the first candidate solution, and selecting the first and/or second candidate solution as the optimal solution according to a constraint associated with the substrate.

A mark field, having at least two location marks with information for the location of the respective location mark in the mark field, and at least one position mark, which is or can be assigned to one of the location marks. Furthermore, the invention relates to a device for determining X-Y positions of structural features of structures arranged on a substrate, wherein the X-Y positions relative to the mark field, which is fixed with respect to the substrate, can be determined. Furthermore, the invention relates to a corresponding method.