Dynamic metrology schemes and sampling schemes for advanced process control in semiconductor processing
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method of measuring at least one manufacturing characteristic for at least one product manufactured by a manufacturing process, comprising the steps of:
- (A) providing information representative of a set of candidate points to be measured by the manufacturing process on the at least one product;
(B) executing, by the manufacturing process, a plan for performing measurements on the at least one product to measure the at least one manufacturing characteristic, the plan defining the measurements to be made responsive to said set of candidate points;
(C) detecting a change in the manufacturing process, the change including at least one of;
receiving new material in the manufacturing process, detecting a fault in the manufacturing process, detecting a change in a control parameter in the manufacturing process, and detecting a variation in a measurement of the at least one product; and
(D) adjusting the plan for performing measurements based on the detected change.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Systems, methods and mediums are provided for dynamic adjustment of sampling plans in connection with a wafer (or other device) to be measured. A sampling plan provides information on specific measure points within a die, a die being the section on the wafer that will eventually become a single chip after processing. There are specified points within the die that are candidates for measuring. The stored die map information may be retrieved and translated to determine the available points for measurement on the wafer.
The invention adjusts the frequency and/or spatial resolution of measurements when one or more events occur that are likely to indicate an internal or external change affecting the manufacturing process or results. The increase in measurements and possible corresponding decrease in processing occur on an as-needed basis. The dynamic metrology plan adjusts the spatial resolution of sampling within-wafer by adding, subtracting or replacing candidate points from the sampling plan, in response to certain events which suggest that additional or different measurements of the wafer may be desirable. Where there are provided a number of candidate points in the die map in the area to which points are to be added, subtracted, or replaced, the system can select among the points. Further, the invention may be used in connection with adjusting the frequency of wafer-to-wafer measurements.
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Citations
63 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method of measuring at least one manufacturing characteristic for at least one product manufactured by a manufacturing process, comprising the steps of:
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(A) providing information representative of a set of candidate points to be measured by the manufacturing process on the at least one product;
(B) executing, by the manufacturing process, a plan for performing measurements on the at least one product to measure the at least one manufacturing characteristic, the plan defining the measurements to be made responsive to said set of candidate points;
(C) detecting a change in the manufacturing process, the change including at least one of;
receiving new material in the manufacturing process, detecting a fault in the manufacturing process, detecting a change in a control parameter in the manufacturing process, and detecting a variation in a measurement of the at least one product; and
(D) adjusting the plan for performing measurements based on the detected change. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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16. A computer-implemented method of measuring at least one manufacturing characteristic for at least one semi-conductor wafer manufactured by an automated semi-conductor manufacturing process, comprising the steps of:
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(A) providing information representative of a set of candidate points to be measured by the manufacturing process on the at least one wafer, the set of candidate points being included in a map corresponding to the at least one wafer;
(B) executing, by the manufacturing process, a pre-determined sampling plan for performing measurements on the at least one wafer to measure the at least one manufacturing characteristic, the plan defining the measurements to be made responsive to said set of candidate points, and the plan defining at least one region on the at least one wafer, each of the candidate points corresponding to the at least one region;
(C) detecting a change in the manufacturing process responsive thereto, the change including at least one of;
receiving new material in the manufacturing process, detecting a fault in the manufacturing process, detecting a change in a control parameter in the manufacturing process, and detecting a variation in a measurement of the least one wafer; and
(D) adjusting the plan for performing measurements based on the detected change and performing at least one additionally measurement responsive thereto;
(E) wherein the step of adjusting includes determining the at least one region corresponding to the detected change, selecting the at least one additional measurement responsive to the candidate points corresponding to the determined region, assigning the selected at least one additional measurement, and revising at least one of the measurements, the additional measurement and the plan;
(F) wherein the step of adjusting includes determining whether the detected change may affect a series of wafers, and if so, determining whether to measure at least one of the wafers in the series of wafers;
(G) wherein, there is provided a plurality of wafers including the at least one wafer, being provided in a group, and wherein the plan further includes first information representative of the wafers in the group that are available to be measured, and second information representative of the wafers in the group that are to be measured under the plan;
(H) discarding information representative of measurement results on the at least one wafer when the measurements results indicate a variation in measurement of the at least one wafer and when a fault is detected in the manufacturing process; and
(I) the sampling plan includes a plurality of splines radiating from a center of the at least one wafer, the candidate points being distributed along the splines; and
a distribution of the candidate points along the splines is weighted according to a surface area of the at least one wafer.
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17. A computer-implemented system of measuring at least one manufacturing characteristic for at least one manufactured by a manufacturing process, comprising:
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(A) stored information representative of a set of candidate points to be measured by the manufacturing process on the at least one product;
(B) stored information representative of a plan for performing measurements on the at least one product to measure the at least one manufacturing characteristic, the plan defining the measurements to be made responsive to said set of candidate points;
(C) a processor, detecting a change in the manufacturing process, the change including at least one of;
receiving new material in the manufacturing process, detecting a fault in the manufacturing process, detecting a change in a control parameter in the manufacturing process, and detecting a variation in a measurement of the at least one product; and
adjusting, responsive to a detected change, the plan for performing measurements based on the detected change.
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32. A computer-implemented system of measuring at least one manufacturing characteristic for at least one semi-conductor wafer manufactured by an automated semi-conductor manufacturing process, comprising:
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(A) stored information representative of a set of candidate points to be measured by the manufacturing process on the at least one wafer, the set of candidate points being included in a map corresponding to the at least one wafer;
(B) information representative of a pre-determined sampling plan for performing measurements on the at least one wafer to measure the at least one manufacturing characteristic, the plan defining the measurements to be made responsive to said set of candidate points, and the plan defining at least one region on the at least one wafer, each of the candidate points corresponding to the at least one region;
(C) a processor, detecting a change in the manufacturing process responsive thereto, the change including at least one of;
receiving new material in the manufacturing process, detecting a fault in the manufacturing process, detecting a change in a control parameter in the manufacturing process, and detecting a variation in a measurement of the at least one wafer; and
adjusting, responsive to the detected change, the plan for performing measurements based on the detected change and performing at least one additional measurement responsive thereto;
(D) wherein the measurements are adjusted by determining, in the processor, the at least one region corresponding to the detected change, selecting the at least one additional measurement responsive to the candidate points corresponding to the determined region, and assigning the selected at least one additional measurement and revising at least one of the measurements, the additional measurement and the plan;
(E) wherein the measurements are adjusted by determining, in the processor, whether the detected change may affect a series of wafers, and if so, determining whether to measure at least one of the wafers in the series of wafers;
(F) wherein there is provided a plurality of wafers including the at least one wafer, being provided in a group, and wherein the plan further includes first information representative of the wafers in the group that are available to be measured, and second information representative of the wafers in the group that are to be measured under the plan;
(G) storage of information representative of measurement results on the at least one wafer, except when the measurements results indicate a variation in measurement of the at least one wafer and when a fault is detected in the manufacturing process; and
(H) wherein the sampling plan includes a plurality of splines radiating from a center of the at least one wafer, the candidate points being distributed along the splines; and
a distribution of the candidate points along the splines being weighted according to a surface area of the at least one wafer.
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33. A computer program for measuring at least one manufacturing characteristic for at least one product manufactured by a manufacturing process, the computer program stored on a computer-readable medium, comprising:
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(A) instructions for providing information representative of a set of candidate points to be measured by the manufacturing process on the at least one product;
(B) instructions for executing, by the manufacturing process, a plan for performing measurements on the at least one product to measure the at least one manufacturing characteristic, the plan defining the measurements to be made responsive to said set of candidate points;
(C) instructions for detecting a change in the manufacturing process, the change including at least one of;
receiving new material in the manufacturing process, detecting a fault in the manufacturing process, detecting a change in a control parameter in the manufacturing process, and detecting a variation in a measurement of the at least one product; and
(D) instructions for adjusting the plan for performing measurements based on the detected change. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63)
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48. A computer-implemented program of measuring at least one manufacturing characteristic for at least one semi-conductor wafer manufactured by an automated semi-conductor manufacturing process, the computer program stored on a computer-readable medium, comprising:
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(A) instructions for providing information representative of a set of candidate points to be measured by the manufacturing process on the at least one wafer, the set of candidate points being included in a map corresponding to the at least one wafer;
(B) instructions for executing, by the manufacturing process, a pre-determined sampling plan for performing measurements on the at least one wafer to measure the at least one manufacturing characteristic, the plan defining the measurements to be made responsive to said set of candidate points, and the plan defining at least one region on the at least one wafer, each of the candidate points corresponding to the at least one region;
(C) instructions for detecting a change in the manufacturing process responsive thereto, the change including at least one of;
receiving new material in the manufacturing process, detecting a fault in the manufacturing process, detecting a change in a control parameter in the manufacturing process, and detecting a variation in a measurement of the at least one wafer;
(D) instructions for adjusting the plan for performing measurements based on the detected change;
(E) wherein adjusting includes determining the at least one region corresponding to the detected change, selecting the at least one additional measurement responsive to the candidate points corresponding to the determined region, assigning the selected at least one additional measurement, and revising at least one of the measurements, the additional measurement, and the plan;
(F) wherein adjusting includes determining whether the detected change may affect a series of wafers, and if so, determining whether to measure at least one of the wafers in the series of wafers;
(G) wherein there is provided a plurality of wafers, including the at least one wafer, being provided in a group, and wherein the plan further includes first information representative of the wafers in the group that are available to be measured, and second information representative of the wafers in the group that are to be measured under the plan;
(H) instructions for discarding information representative of measurement results on the at least one wafer when the measurements results indicate a variation in measurement of the at least wafer and when a fault is detected in the manufacturing process; and
(I) wherein the sampling plan includes a plurality of splines radiating from a center of at least one wafer, the candidate points being distributed along the splines; and
a distribution of the candidate points along the splines is weighted according to a surface area of the at least one wafer.
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49. A computer-implemented system of measuring at least one manufacturing characteristic for at least one manufactured by a manufacturing process, comprising:
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means for representing a set of candidate points to be measured by the manufacturing process on the at least one product;
means for providing a plan for performing measurements on the at least one product to measure the at least one manufacturing characteristic, the plan defining the measurements to be made responsive to said set of candidate points;
means for detecting a change in the manufacturing process, the change including at least one of;
receiving new material in the manufacturing process, detecting a fault in the manufacturing process, detecting a change in a control parameter in the manufacturing process, and detecting a variation in a measurement of the at least one product; and
means for adjusting, responsive to a detected change, the plan for performing measurements based on the detected change.
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Specification