In-situ process diagnostics of in-film aluminum during plasma deposition
First Claim
1. A substrate processing system, comprising:
- a housing defining a process chamber, the process chamber including a substrate holder for supporting a substrate in the process chamber and a window for viewing the substrate during processing of the substrate in the process chamber;
a plasma generating system operatively coupled to the process chamber and configured to generate a plasma in the process chamber in order to process the substrate; and
an analytical tool positioned outside the process chamber and relative to the window whereby the analytical tool is operable to receive radiation emitted by the plasma during processing of the substrate, the analytical tool being further operable to measure at least a portion of the radiation corresponding to a contaminant in the plasma during processing.
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Abstract
The concentration of various contaminants in a plasma can be monitored during processing of a substrate such as a silicon wafer, in order to prevent an unacceptable amount of contamination from being deposited on the substrate. The radiation emitted from the plasma through a window in the processing chamber during processing can be detected and measured by a tool such as an optical emission spectrograph (OES) and the relative intensity of peaks in the spectrum corresponding to various contaminants can be analyzed in order to determine contaminant concentration. In one embodiment, the concentration of aluminum in a plasma is monitored during a plasma chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process in order to ensure that the amount of aluminum in the produced device is lower than a maximum threshold amount.
25 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A substrate processing system, comprising:
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a housing defining a process chamber, the process chamber including a substrate holder for supporting a substrate in the process chamber and a window for viewing the substrate during processing of the substrate in the process chamber; a plasma generating system operatively coupled to the process chamber and configured to generate a plasma in the process chamber in order to process the substrate; and an analytical tool positioned outside the process chamber and relative to the window whereby the analytical tool is operable to receive radiation emitted by the plasma during processing of the substrate, the analytical tool being further operable to measure at least a portion of the radiation corresponding to a contaminant in the plasma during processing. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of processing a substrate, comprising:
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placing a substrate in a process chamber; generating a plasma in a process chamber in order to process the substrate; and measuring at least a portion of radiation emitted by the plasma during processing of the substrate, the portion corresponding to a contaminant in the plasma during processing. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A computer program product embedded in a computer-readable storage medium, comprising:
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computer program code for receiving spectral data corresponding to the optical emission of a plasma during processing of a substrate; and computer program code for analyzing at least a portion of the spectral data to determine a relative concentration of at least one contaminant in the plasma. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26)
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Specification