Acoustic detection of mechanically induced circuit damage
First Claim
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1. A system to process a wafer, comprising:
- a semiconductor processing equipment comprising mechanical components to process the wafer;
one or more acoustic transducers positioned on the mechanical components in a location of possible unwanted contact with the wafer and receiving acoustic emissions generated by the mechanical components and outputting signals indicative thereof; and
a controller comparing in-situ the output signals with sound signals of each mechanical component to determine therefrom whether there is unwanted contact with the wafer, wherein the sound signals of each mechanical component correspond to the mechanical component not making unwanted contact with the wafer when processing the wafer.
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Abstract
An apparatus and method thereof includes at least one acoustic transducer for receiving acoustic emissions produced during a semiconductor fabrication process. The acoustic transducer is mounted to various mechanical components of a semiconductor processing equipment in a manner so that the acoustic transducer receives acoustic emissions produced during the fabrication process. The received acoustic emissions are analyzed in in-situ to identify and determine surface characteristics of the wafer.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A system to process a wafer, comprising:
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a semiconductor processing equipment comprising mechanical components to process the wafer;
one or more acoustic transducers positioned on the mechanical components in a location of possible unwanted contact with the wafer and receiving acoustic emissions generated by the mechanical components and outputting signals indicative thereof; and
a controller comparing in-situ the output signals with sound signals of each mechanical component to determine therefrom whether there is unwanted contact with the wafer, wherein the sound signals of each mechanical component correspond to the mechanical component not making unwanted contact with the wafer when processing the wafer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A semiconductor processing method of a system comprising mechanical components to process a wafer, the method comprising:
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mounting one or more acoustic transducers on the mechanical components in a location of possible unwanted contact with the wafer;
receiving acoustic emissions generated by the mechanical components and outputting signals indicative thereof;
comparing in-situ the output signals with a sound signal to determine therefrom whether there is unwanted contact with the wafer, wherein the sound signals of each mechanical component correspond to the mechanical component not making unwanted contact with the wafer when processing the wafer - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A system initialization process for a normal production of an integrated circuit (IC) pattern of a wafer, comprising:
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acoustically auditing a semiconductor processing equipment to select mechanical components to be monitored;
mounting one or more acoustic transducers and a recording device on the mechanical components selected for monitoring;
monitoring each selected mechanical component only at predetermined manufacturing stages when there is a risk of the wafer from being damaged;
recording output signals of the selected mechanical components when operating during the predetermined manufacturing stages;
setting-up the mechanical components to make unwanted contact with a surface of the wafer;
recording acoustic emission training set signals for pattern recognition of the output signals of the selected mechanical components when there is unwanted contact;
adjusting back the selected mechanical components so that the mechanical components do not make unwanted contact with the surface of the wafer;
recording the output signals generated by the selected mechanical components at the normal production as the sound signals; and
beginning the normal production of the IC pattern and monitoring the output signals from the selected mechanical components for unwanted contact. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26)
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Specification