IMPLEMENTATION OF ADVANCED ENDPOINT FUNCTIONS WITHIN THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE BY USING A PLUG-IN APPROACH

• US 20090158265A1
• Filed: 12/13/2007
• Published: 06/18/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/13/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Applied Materials Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Applied Materials Incorporated
• Inventors: Chang, Vivien, Lian, Lei, Davis, Matthew Fenton, Taraboukhine, Mikhail, Wen, Sandy M.
• Application Number:
  US11/956,210
• Publication Number:
  US 20090158265A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/168
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/65 Updates security arrangements therefor G06F21/57

Abstract

Embodiments described herein generally relate to a method of updating a software routine with subprograms and subroutines that can be accessed by an end user on an as-needed basis. In one embodiment, a method of providing a control function for a semiconductor process to a pre-existing software architecture is described. The method includes providing a plug-in to the pre-existing software architecture, providing an upgrade library file having the control function therein, and uploading the upgrade library file to the pre-existing software architecture at the plug-in to facilitate process control of the semiconductor process.

Claims

1. A method of providing a control function for a semiconductor process to a pre-existing software architecture, the method comprising:

providing a plug-in to the pre-existing software architecture;

providing an upgrade library file having the control function therein; and

uploading the upgrade library file to the pre-existing software architecture at the plug-in to facilitate process control of the semiconductor process.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the control function is an endpoint detection algorithm.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the control function comprises a program for detecting an endpoint in an etch process using optical emissions spectroscopy (OES).

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the upgrade library file is a dynamic linked library (DLL).

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the upgrade library file is acquired via the World Wide Web.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the upgrade library file is acquired via file transfer protocol (FTP).

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the upgrade library file is acquired via a compact disc (CD).

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the control function comprises a program used in a neural network.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the control function comprises a program for a digital adaptive filter.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the control function comprises a program for a full spectrum adaptive filter (FSAF).

11. A method of providing an upgraded control function for a semiconductor process to a pre-existing software architecture in communication with a plasma chamber, the method comprising:

providing a plug-in to the pre-existing software architecture having a first library file therein;

providing a second library file having the upgraded control function therein; and

replacing the first library file with the upgrade library at the plug-in to facilitate process control in the plasma chamber.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the upgraded control function is an endpoint detection algorithm.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the upgraded control function comprises a program for detecting an endpoint in an etch process using optical emissions spectroscopy (OES).

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the upgrade library file is a dynamic linked library (DLL).

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the upgrade library file is acquired via the World Wide Web.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the upgraded control function comprises a program used in a neural network.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein the upgraded control function comprises a program for a full spectrum adaptive filter (FSAF).

18. A computer-readable medium comprising a first set of equations for control of a semiconductor process and configured to replace a second set of equations executed by a semiconductor processing tool processor, wherein the first set of equations are bundled into a dynamic linked library (DLL).

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the first set of equations, when executed by the semiconductor processing tool processor, performs operations comprising:

(a) providing first and second reference spectrums;

(b) detecting optical emissions during etching of the substrate to generate a runtime optical emission spectrum (OES);

(c) comparing the runtime OES with the first and second reference spectrums using adaptive filtering to generate a comparator output; and

(d) repeating (b) and (c) until the desired etch state is detected based on the comparator output.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the first reference spectrum is a main etch OES vector and the second reference spectrum is an over etch OES vector.