Patterned wafer thickness detection system
First Claim
1. An apparatus for monitoring an electroless deposition process comprising:
- a plurality of chamber walls that enclose a processing region;
a substrate support disposed in the processing region having a substrate receiving surface;
an electromagnetic radiation source that is mounted proximate to the processing region and is adapted to emit electromagnetic radiation that strikes a surface of a substrate mounted on the substrate receiving surface at an angle that is substantially perpendicular to the substrate surface;
a detector that is mounted proximate to the processing region and is adapted to detect the intensity of reflected electromagnetic radiation from the surface of the substrate during an electroless deposition process; and
a controller adapted to receive a signal from the detector and modify the electroless deposition process.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus and a method of controlling an electroless deposition process by directing electromagnetic radiation towards the surface of a substrate and detecting the change in intensity of the electromagnetic radiation at one or more wavelengths reflected off features on the surface of the substrate is provided. In one embodiment, the detected end of an electroless deposition process step is measured while the substrate is rotated relative to the detection mechanism. In another embodiment, a detection mechanism, which is proximate to the processing region, directs electromagnetic radiation onto a substrate surface, which is then reflected by features on the substrate surface and is detected by the detection mechanism. In one aspect, the angle of the directed electromagnetic radiation is perpendicular to the surface of the substrate and the shape of the directed electromagnetic radiation spot is substantially circular in shape. In another aspect, the directed electromagnetic radiation spot is positioned at the center of rotation of the substrate. A controller can be used to monitor, store, and/or control the electroless deposition process by use of stored process values, comparison of data collected at different times, and various calculated time dependent data.
-
Citations
35 Claims
-
1. An apparatus for monitoring an electroless deposition process comprising:
-
a plurality of chamber walls that enclose a processing region;
a substrate support disposed in the processing region having a substrate receiving surface;
an electromagnetic radiation source that is mounted proximate to the processing region and is adapted to emit electromagnetic radiation that strikes a surface of a substrate mounted on the substrate receiving surface at an angle that is substantially perpendicular to the substrate surface;
a detector that is mounted proximate to the processing region and is adapted to detect the intensity of reflected electromagnetic radiation from the surface of the substrate during an electroless deposition process; and
a controller adapted to receive a signal from the detector and modify the electroless deposition process. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
-
-
11. An apparatus for monitoring an electroless deposition process comprising:
-
a plurality of chamber walls that enclose a processing region;
a substrate support disposed in the processing region having a substrate receiving surface;
a mirror mounted in the processing region;
an electromagnetic radiation source that is mounted proximate to the processing region and is adapted to emit electromagnetic radiation that strikes the mirror and the mirror reflects the electromagnetic radiation towards a surface of a substrate mounted on the substrate receiving surface;
a detector that that is mounted proximate to the processing region and is adapted to detect the intensity of reflected electromagnetic radiation from the surface of the substrate during an electroless deposition process; and
a controller adapted to receive a signal from the detector and modify the electroless deposition process. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
-
21. An apparatus for monitoring an electroless deposition process comprising:
-
a plurality of chamber walls that enclose a processing region;
a substrate support disposed in the processing region having a substrate receiving surface;
a drive mechanism that can rotate the substrate support;
an electromagnetic radiation source that is mounted proximate to the processing region and is adapted to emit electromagnetic radiation at a wavelength between about 660 nanometers and about 680 nanometers that is in communication with a center of rotation on a surface of a substrate mounted on the substrate receiving surface at an angle that is substantially perpendicular to the substrate receiving surface;
a detector that that is mounted proximate to the processing region and is adapted to detect the intensity of reflected electromagnetic radiation at a wavelength between about 660 nanometers and about 680 nanometers from the surface of the substrate during an electroless deposition process; and
a controller adapted to receive a signal from the detector and modify the electroless deposition process.
-
-
22. A system for monitoring an electroless deposition process comprising:
-
a plurality of chamber walls that enclose a processing region;
a substrate support disposed in the processing region having a substrate receiving surface;
an electromagnetic radiation source that is mounted proximate to the processing region and is adapted to emit electromagnetic radiation that strikes a surface of a substrate mounted on the substrate receiving surface;
a detector that detects the intensity of the reflected electromagnetic radiation from the surface of a substrate mounted on the substrate receiving surface during an electroless deposition process;
a controller adapted to receive a signal from the detector and modify the electroless deposition process; and
a memory, coupled to the controller, the memory comprising a computer-readable medium having a computer-readable program embodied therein for directing the operation of the electroless deposition system, the computer-readable program comprising;
computer instructions to control the electroless deposition system to;
(i) start processing;
(ii) collect and store into the memory the intensity of the reflected electromagnetic radiation data during the electroless deposition process;
(iii) compare the stored data with the collected data; and
(iv) modify the electroless deposition process when the collected data exceeds a threshold value. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24)
-
-
25. A method of controlling an electroless deposition process comprising:
-
positioning a substrate in an electroless deposition chamber;
rotating the substrate;
emitting electromagnetic radiation from a broadband light source onto a surface of the substrate, wherein the shape of the emitted electromagnetic radiation striking the surface of the substrate is substantially circular and the emitted electromagnetic radiation striking the surface of the substrate is positioned at a center of rotation of the substrate;
detecting an intensity of the electromagnetic radiation at one or more wavelengths that is reflected off a surface of a substrate during an electroless deposition process step by use of a detector; and
monitoring the intensity of the electromagnetic radiation at the one or more wavelengths to determine the status of the electroless deposition process. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
-
-
32. A method of controlling an electroless deposition process comprising:
-
delivering an electroless deposition fluid to a substrate in an electroless deposition chamber;
detecting the intensity of the electromagnetic radiation comprising;
rotating the substrate;
emitting electromagnetic radiation from a broadband light source onto a surface of the substrate, wherein the shape of the emitted electromagnetic radiation striking the surface of the substrate is substantially circular and the emitted electromagnetic radiation striking the surface of the substrate is positioned at a center of rotation of the substrate; and
detecting an intensity of the electromagnetic radiation at one or more wavelengths reflected off a surface of a substrate;
comparing the detected intensity of the electromagnetic radiation at a first time with a detected intensity of the electromagnetic radiation at a second time;
starting a deposition timer when the difference between the intensity of the electromagnetic radiation at the first time and the intensity of the electromagnetic radiation at the second time equals a process value; and
modifying an electroless deposition process step after the deposition timer has reached a defined period of time.
-
-
33. A method of sensing the initiation of the electroless deposition process comprising:
-
positioning a substrate in an electroless deposition chamber;
rotating the substrate;
emitting electromagnetic radiation from a broadband light source onto the a surface of the substrate, wherein the shape of the emitted electromagnetic radiation striking the surface of the substrate is substantially circular and the emitted electromagnetic radiation striking the surface of the substrate is positioned at a center of rotation of the substrate;
detecting an intensity of the electromagnetic radiation at one or more wavelengths that is reflected off a surface of a substrate at the start of the electroless deposition process by use of a detector;
detecting an intensity of the electromagnetic radiation at one or more wavelengths that is reflected off a surface of a substrate at a second time by use of a detector; and
modifying an electroless deposition process step when the change in the detected intensity at one or more wavelengths exceed a desired level.
-
-
34. An apparatus for monitoring an electroless deposition process comprising:
-
a plurality of chamber walls that enclose a processing region;
a substrate support disposed in the processing region having a substrate receiving surface;
a motor adapted to rotate the substrate support, wherein the substrate support has an axis of rotation that is substantially perpendicular to the substrate receiving surface;
an electromagnetic radiation source that is adapted to emit electromagnetic radiation that is substantially directed towards a center point on a substrate retained on the substrate receiving surface, wherein the center point is coincident with the axis of rotation;
a detector that is adapted to detect the intensity of reflected electromagnetic radiation from a surface of the substrate during an electroless deposition process; and
a controller adapted to receive a signal from the detector and modify the electroless deposition process.
-
-
35. An apparatus for monitoring an electroless deposition process comprising:
-
a plurality of chamber walls that enclose a processing region;
a substrate support disposed in the processing region having a substrate receiving surface;
a motor adapted to rotate the substrate support;
an electromagnetic radiation source that is adapted to emit electromagnetic radiation that strikes a substrate retained on the substrate receiving surface;
an anamorphic prism that is adapted to distort the shape of the electromagnetic radiation emitted from the electromagnetic radiation source;
a detector that is adapted to detect the intensity of reflected electromagnetic radiation from a surface of the substrate during an electroless deposition process; and
a controller adapted to receive a signal from the detector and modify the electroless deposition process.
-
Specification