[ 0034 ] fig1 is a schematic , pictorial , partly cutaway view of an auger analysis tool 20 , for use in a thin film metrology chamber , in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . analyzer 20 is configured to detect auger electrons emitted from a semiconductor wafer 22 . the wafer comprises an ultrathin film 26 , which is formed over an underlying layer 24 . typically , thin film 26 is less than 50 nm thick . analyzer 20 is most advantageously used , however , for layers that are less than 5 nm thick , and it may even be used for layers less than 1 nm thick . some examples of such ultra - thin layers used in modern semiconductor devices are described hereinbelow . auger tool 20 is configured as a cylindrical mirror analyzer ( cma ), as is known in the analytical art . a cma of this sort , known as “ supercma ” is produced by staib instruments gmbh ( munich , germany ). further information regarding this cma is available at www . staibinstruments . com , from which fig1 is adapted . alternatively , other types of electron analyzers may be used for auger analysis , such as a cylindrical sector analyzer ( csa ) with a channeltron detector . a csa of this sort is produced by focus gmbh ( hünstetten - görsroth , germany ). tool 20 comprises a coaxial electron gun 28 , which directs a beam 30 of electrons toward a point on the surface of wafer 22 . the electron beam is focused to a tight spot on the wafer surface , with a spot diameter that is preferably no more than about 10 - 30 μm in diameter . the position of the beam focus is preferably sufficient stable so that it varies by no more than 5 μm over a measurement period . the tight focus of the electron beam is useful because it allows measurement of film 26 at precise locations on the wafer surface , such as the location of a particular gate of which film 26 is a part . the electron energy of the gun is preferably in the range of 1 - 15 kev , with narrow energy spread ( most preferably & lt ; 1 ev ) and beam current in the range of 1 na to 1 μa . electrons scattered from wafer 22 are collected through a retarding lens 34 , which enables a cylindrical mirror 36 to focus the electrons into an exit slit 38 . these electrons are received by a detector 40 , preferably an electron counting detector , as is known in the art . the detector provides a count of the number of electrons emitted from wafer 22 as a function of electron energy . the electrons scattered from the wafer are preferably collected over an energy range of at least 0 - 2500 ev , with energy resolution of 2 % or better and high energy calibration stability . for high signal / noise ratio and throughput , tool 20 is preferably designed to capture electrons from the wafer over an angular range of at least 30 °, with collection efficiency ( relative to 2π of solid angle ) of at least 5 %. for this purpose , it is also desirable that detector 40 comprise multiple parallel acquisition channels . [ 0038 ] fig2 is a schematic plot of auger spectra obtained from silicon oxinitride layers of varying thickness and composition , which are formed over a silicon substrate . these spectra show the number of electrons emitted n ( e ), as a function of the electron energy . they include three peaks , corresponding to the following characteristic auger electron emission lines of nitrogen ( n ), oxygen ( o ) and silicon ( si ): typically , the auger spectrum includes multiple auger lines for each element , corresponding to different inner - level electron transitions . only one line per element is shown here , however , for the sake of simplicity and clarity . analyzer 20 also collects back - scattered electrons , which give rise to the smoothly - varying background below the auger peaks shown in the figure . a first spectrum 42 , with a high nitrogen / oxygen ratio in film 26 . a second spectrum 44 , with a lower nitrogen / oxygen ratio . a third spectrum 46 , in which film 26 is thinner , relative to the first two spectra . it will be observed that the relative amplitudes of the n and o peaks , corresponding to the composition of the thin film layer , reflect the relative concentrations of the elements in the layer . furthermore , as film 26 is made thicker , the attenuation of auger electrons emitted from the silicon in underlying layer 24 leads to a reduction in the amplitude of the si peak . preferably , for each type of thin film to be evaluated by analyzer 20 , calibration measurements of the auger spectrum are made using a number of different films of known thickness and composition . based on these calibration measurements , the thickness and composition of other films of the same type can be determined based on the amplitudes of the peaks in their auger spectra . this method is sufficiently accurate to give readings of the thickness of film 26 to a precision of about 0 . 01 nm . [ 0048 ] fig3 is a block diagram that schematically illustrates a station 47 for auger metrology of wafer 22 , in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . station 47 comprises a chamber 48 , containing a motion stage 49 on which wafer 22 is placed during measurement . auger analyzer 20 , as shown in fig1 directs its electron beam at wafer 22 , and receives the auger and backscattered electrons emitted from the wafer . stage 49 positions wafer 22 so that a desired point on the wafer is properly located in the beam of electron gun 28 . for example , the electron beam may be aimed at the location of a particular gate in which film 26 has been formed . alternatively , the beam may be directed at a special test location on wafer 22 , which is preferably located in a scribe line , between two dice . given the large characteristic size ( 30 μm ) of the pattern and of the electron beam , positioning resolution of about ± 5 μm is generally sufficient . for simplicity and economy of space , stage 49 preferably comprises an r - theta ( translation / rotation ) stage . alternatively or additionally , the stage may provide x - y translation , or analyzer 20 may be translated over wafer 22 . preferably , stage 49 positions the wafer ( or the analyzer is translated ) so that several locations are irradiated by the electron beam in succession . the auger spectrum is measured at each location , in order to ensure that uniformity of film 26 is maintained over the entire wafer . optionally , station 47 also comprises an ammeter ( not shown ), coupled to wafer 22 , for measuring specimen currents generated in the wafer due to irradiation by electron gun 28 . the use of specimen current measurements in monitoring production steps applied to semiconductor wafers is described in a u . s . provisional patent application serial no . 60 / 354361 entitled , “ monitoring of contact hole production ,” filed 2 apr . 2002 , which is assigned to the assignee of the present patent application and whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference . the positioning and operation of analyzer 20 and stage 49 are controlled by a main controller 50 , via a gun / auger control unit 52 and a stage control unit 54 . typically , a pre - alignment unit based on a low - resolution optical microscope ( om / pal ) 56 is used by controller 50 , via an om / pal control unit 58 , to align the electron beam with the point on the wafer that is to be tested . for this purpose , the microscope preferably has a resolution of 3 - 4 μm over a 1 × 1 mm field of view . suitable microscopes for this purpose are made , for example , by optem ( fairport , n . y .). during operation , a vacuum is maintained in chamber 48 by a vacuum pump 60 , which is also controlled and monitored by controller 50 , via - a vacuum control unit 62 . although aes systems known in the art are typically designed to operate in an ultra - high vacuum ( uhv ) of 10 − 9 to 10 − 10 torr , the inventor has found that a vacuum of 10 − 6 to 10 − 7 torr gives satisfactory results for the types of thin film measurements described in the present patent application , as long as the level of organic vapors in chamber 48 is kept at uhv levels . this feature of the present invention allows chamber 47 to be integrated with other chambers in a cluster tool , as described below . if a vacuum of 10 − 9 - 10 − 10 torr were required , such integration would be much more difficult to accomplish . a robot 64 inserts wafers into chamber 42 and removes them from the chamber . controller 50 communicates with the robot via a robot control unit 66 . robot 64 is preferably used to transfer wafers to and from other stations in a cluster tool , as shown below in fig4 . after positioning stage 49 and operating analyzer 20 , controller 50 receives the electron counts collected by detector 40 ( fig1 ). the controller analyzes the spectra of electron counts against energy ( as shown in fig2 ), and compares the measured peak amplitudes to calibration data in order to determine the thickness and composition of film 26 . controller 50 may also use the backscattered ( non - auger ) electron signal in determining the thickness of certain films , as described , for example , by niedrig , in “ film - thickness determination in electron microscopy : the electron backscattering method ,” published in optica acta 24 ( 6 ), p . 679 ( 1977 ), which is incorporated herein by reference . if the controller determines that the film thickness or composition is outside a predetermined tolerance range , it preferably interrupts the production process and notifies a system operator via a user workstation 68 . the operator evaluates the test results and then invokes whatever corrective action may be necessary . this action may include , for example , continuing the deposition process on the current wafer if film 26 is too thin , and / or adjusting production parameters to correct the thickness and composition of films to be formed on subsequent wafers . [ 0056 ] fig4 is a schematic top view of a cluster tool 70 in which test station 47 is integrated , in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . this integration is made possible by the small size and simplicity of the components of test station 47 , and by the fact that the test station does not require uhv to operate . other methods of ultra - thin film metrology , such as x - ray or optical methods , cannot easily be made to fit into the cluster tool framework or , if adapted to work in this framework , suffer from shortcomings of poor resolution and / or low throughput . optical methods based on ellipsometry may be satisfactory for some purposes , but only if the composition of film 26 is precisely determined by some other method . the reason for this limitation is that the ellipsometric measurement is sensitive to the refractive index of the film , which varies with composition . therefore , ellipsometry can be used for extremely thin films to deduce only a product of thickness and refractive index . in the embodiment pictured in fig4 robot 64 receives wafer 22 after underlying layer 24 has been deposited on the wafer and has been prepared for a metal seed layer above it . this embodiment and the corresponding configuration of tool 70 are chosen by way of example , and other processes and configurations may similarly be implemented . since the interior of tool 70 is evacuated , robot 64 is able to transfer wafer 22 from chamber to chamber without exposing the wafer to ambient air . optionally , the wafer is first cleaned in a cleaning station 72 , and is then inserted in an atomic layer deposition ( ald ) station 74 . the purpose of this step is to form a barrier layer over the underlying dielectric or semiconductor layer 24 before metal seeding , in order to prevent subsequent diffusion of metal into the underlying layer . the barrier layer typically comprises tan , tis or srs , or another material known in the art . after film 26 has been deposited on wafer 22 to serve as the barrier layer , the wafer is passed to test station 47 . in station 47 , the auger spectrum of electrons emitted from wafer 22 is measured , and the results are evaluated by controller 50 , as described above , in order to determine the thickness and composition of the barrier layer . a tan barrier layer , for example , should have a thickness set precisely to a value between about 0 . 5 and 3 nm . if the thickness and composition of film 26 are found to be within a predetermined tolerance range ( preferably to within about ± 0 . 05 nm ) of the nominal value , the barrier layer is deemed to be acceptable . robot 64 then moves wafer 22 into a seeding station 78 for application of a copper seed over the barrier layer . the copper seed layer is preferably about 5 nm thick . if desired , the auger measurement in test station 47 may be repeated after the seeding step to verify the thickness of the copper seed layer , as well . on the other hand , if the barrier layer is found to be too thin , robot 64 may be instructed to return the wafer to ald station 74 for further deposition , to be followed by re - test in station 47 . alternatively or additionally , workstation 68 may be used to adjust the process parameters in order to correct any process deviations . as another example , tool 70 may be adapted for growing gate dielectric layers between the gate and overlying conductor in cmos transistors formed on wafer 22 . typically , the gate dielectric comprises a thin layer of silicon oxinitride , between about 0 . 5 and 2 nm thick , which is formed by plasma nitridation of thermally - grown oxide . for consistent control of the transistors &# 39 ; electrical parameters , the dielectric layer thickness is preferably monitored using test station 47 , so that the thickness of the layer is within about ± 0 . 01 nm of specification . the nitrogen concentration is carefully controlled , as well , preferably to within about ± 0 . 75 %. polysilicon is then deposited over the dielectric layer using one of the stations of tool 70 , before the wafer is removed to ambient air . in addition to these examples , aes in station 47 may similarly be used for stoichiometric analysis of layers of other types , as well as for measurement and control of contaminant levels . station 47 may also be adapted for other types of measurements , such as measurement of specimen current for contact hole monitoring , as noted above , and x - ray spectrometry for measurement of implant doses . other possible modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art . although preferred embodiments described herein are directed specifically to fabrication of microelectronic devices on semiconductor wafer 22 , the principles of the present invention may similarly be applied to measuring composition and thickness of ultra - thin layers formed on substrates of other types . it will thus be appreciated that the preferred embodiments described above are cited by way of example , and that the present invention is not limited to what has been particularly shown and described hereinabove . rather , the scope of the present invention includes both combinations and subcombinations of the various features described hereinabove , as well as variations and modifications thereof which would occur to persons skilled in the art upon reading the foregoing description and which are not disclosed in the prior art .