A method for determining a characteristic of a feature in an object, the feature being disposed below a surface of the object is disclosed. The surface of the object is irradiated with a pulsed pump radiation beam so as to produce an acoustic wave in the object. The surface of the object is then irradiated with a measurement radiation beam. A portion of the measurement radiation beam scattered from the surface is received and a characteristic of the feature in the object is determined from at least a portion of the measurement radiation beam scattered from the surface within a measurement time period. A temporal intensity distribution of the pulsed pump radiation beam is selected such that in the measurement time period a signal to background ratio is greater than a signal to background ratio achieved using a single pulse of the pulsed pump radiation beam. The signal to background ratio is a ratio of: (a) signals generated at the surface by reflections of acoustic waves from the feature to (b) background signals generated at the surface by reflections of acoustic waves which have not reflected from the feature.

A tunable amorphous silicon layer for use with multilayer patterning stacks can be used to maximize transparency and minimize reflections so as to improve overlay metrology contrast. By increasing the hydrogen content in the amorphous silicon layer, the extinction coefficient (k) value and the refractive index (n) value can be decreased to desired values. Methods for improving overlay metrology contrast with the tunable amorphous silicon layer are disclosed.

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to an optically transparent substrate, comprising a major surface having a peripheral edge region with an orientation feature formed therein, and a texture formed on the peripheral edge region, the texture having an opacity that is greater than an opacity of the major surface.

Provided is a position measurement apparatus in which a measurement error in a target is reduced.

A position measurement apparatus measuring a position of a target includes an illumination unit configured to illuminate the target with illumination light including light of a first wavelength and light of a second wavelength different from the first wavelength, a measurement unit configured to measure the position of the target by detecting light from the target illuminated with the illumination light, and a control unit configured to adjust a ratio of a light intensity of the first wavelength to a light intensity of the second wavelength such that a measurement error varying depending on the position of the target in the measurement unit is reduced.

Integrated circuits and methods for overlap measure are provided. In an embodiment, an integrated circuit includes a plurality of functional cells including at least one gap disposed adjacent to at least one functional cell of the plurality of functional cells and a first overlay test pattern cell disposed within the at least one gap, wherein the first overlay test pattern cell includes a first number of patterns disposed along a first direction at a first pitch. The first pitch is smaller than a smallest wavelength on a full spectrum of humanly visible lights.

A 3D integrated circuit, the circuit including: a first wafer including a first crystalline substrate, a plurality of first transistors, and first copper interconnecting layers, where the first copper interconnecting layers at least interconnect the plurality of first transistors; and a second wafer including a second crystalline substrate, a plurality of second transistors, and second copper interconnecting layers, where the second copper interconnecting layers at least interconnect the plurality of second transistors; where the second wafer is bonded face-to-face on top of the first wafer, where the bonded includes copper to copper bonding; and where the second crystalline substrate has been thinned to a thickness of less than 5 micro-meters.

A lithographic apparatus having a substrate table, a projection system, an encoder system, a measurement frame and a measurement system. The substrate table has a holding surface for holding a substrate. The projection system is for projecting an image on the substrate. The encoder system is for providing a signal representative of a position of the substrate table. The measurement system is for measuring a property of the lithographic apparatus. The holding surface is along a plane. The projection system is at a first side of the plane. The measurement frame is arranged to support at least part of the encoder system and at least part of the measurement system at a second side of the plane different from the first side.

A 3D integrated circuit, the circuit including: a first level including a first wafer, the first wafer including a first crystalline substrate, a plurality of first transistors, and first copper interconnecting layers, where the first copper interconnecting layers at least interconnect the plurality of first transistors; and a second level including a second wafer, the second wafer including a second crystalline substrate, a plurality of second transistors, and second copper interconnecting layers, where the second copper interconnecting layers at least interconnect the plurality of second transistors, where the second level is bonded to the first level, where the bonded includes metal to metal bonding, where the bonded includes oxide to oxide bonding, and where at least one of the second transistors include a replacement gate.

A 3D device including: a first level including first single crystal transistors overlaid by a second level including second single crystal transistors; a third level including third single crystal transistors, the second level is overlaid by the third level; a fourth level including fourth single crystal transistors, the third level is overlaid by the fourth level; first bond regions including first oxide to oxide bonds, where the first bond regions are between the first level and the second level; second bond regions including second oxide to oxide bonds, where the second bond regions are between the second level and the third level; and third bond regions including third oxide to oxide bonds, where the third bond regions are between the third level and the fourth level, where the second level, third level, and fourth level each include one array of memory cells, and where the one array of memory cells is a DRAM type memory.

In a beam irradiation apparatus in which a movable body holds an object, a mark detection system detects a first mark on the movable body while moving the movable body in a first direction and changing an irradiation position of a measurement beam in the first direction, the mark detection system detects a second mark while moving the movable body in the first direction and changing the irradiation position of the measurement beam in the first direction, a controller controls a position of the movable body in a second direction intersecting the first direction during a time period between the detection of the first mark and the detection of the second mark, and the controller controls the movement of the movable body to adjust a positional relation between the object on the movable body and a processing beam, based on results of the detection of the first and second marks.