EVALUATION OF ITERATION METHODS USED WHEN MODELING SCATTERING FROM FEATURES ON SURFACES USING THE DISCRETE-DIPOLE APPROXIMATION

We address modeling of light scattering from features on surfaces and the numerical aspects associated with it. In this context, the feature s represent micro-circuit components and/or particle contaminates on s ilicon wafers. The discrete dipole approximation method is used to mod el the scattering features, and various solution routines are presente d. The quasi-minimal residual method is shown to be the most efficient iteration method used considering the wide range of parameters invest igated. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.