Method for manufacturing semiconductor devices and method and its apparatus for processing detected defect data
First Claim
1. A method for processing detected defect data comprising:
- a step of generating a defects distribution on a semiconductor substrate in order to investigate the cause of the defects by processing detected defect data obtained by inspecting semiconductor substrates processed until a predetermined sub-process, with an inspection equipment, for defects or suspected defects occurred to the semiconductor substrates in a fabrication line consisting of a plurality of sub-processes arranged in sequence, each sub-process being performed by one or a plurality of manufacturing equipments;
a step of quantitatively evaluating defect features of the defects distribution on a semiconductor substrate generated by said step of generating a defects distribution;
a step of generating data of the defect features quantitatively evaluated by said step of quantitatively evaluating defect features for the manufacturing equipments that processed the semiconductor substrates and the sub-processes that applied to the semiconductor substrates; and
a causation inferring step of evaluating cyclicity of the defect features data for the manufacturing equipments that processed the semiconductor substrates and the sub-processes that applied to the semiconductor substrates, generated by said step of generating data, thereby inferring a causal manufacturing equipment that caused the defects.
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Abstract
Disclosed herein is a method for manufacturing semiconductor device and a method and apparatus for processing detected defect data, making it possible to quickly infer or determine a process and related manufacturing equipment that causes defects in a fabrication line of semiconductor devices, take remedy action, and achieve a constant and high yield. The method of the invention comprises quantitatively evaluating similarity of a defects distribution on a wafer that suffered abnormal occurrence of defects to inspection results for wafers inspected in the past, analyzing cyclicity of data sequence of evaluated similarity, evaluating relationship between the cyclicity of defects obtained from the analysis and the process method according to each manufacturing equipment in the fabrication line, and inferring or determining a causal process and equipment that caused the defects.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. A method for processing detected defect data comprising:
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a step of generating a defects distribution on a semiconductor substrate in order to investigate the cause of the defects by processing detected defect data obtained by inspecting semiconductor substrates processed until a predetermined sub-process, with an inspection equipment, for defects or suspected defects occurred to the semiconductor substrates in a fabrication line consisting of a plurality of sub-processes arranged in sequence, each sub-process being performed by one or a plurality of manufacturing equipments;
a step of quantitatively evaluating defect features of the defects distribution on a semiconductor substrate generated by said step of generating a defects distribution;
a step of generating data of the defect features quantitatively evaluated by said step of quantitatively evaluating defect features for the manufacturing equipments that processed the semiconductor substrates and the sub-processes that applied to the semiconductor substrates; and
a causation inferring step of evaluating cyclicity of the defect features data for the manufacturing equipments that processed the semiconductor substrates and the sub-processes that applied to the semiconductor substrates, generated by said step of generating data, thereby inferring a causal manufacturing equipment that caused the defects. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 11)
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6. A method for processing detected defect data comprising:
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a step of generating a defects distribution on a semiconductor substrate in order to investigate the cause of the defects by processing detected defect data obtained by inspecting semiconductor substrates processed until a predetermined sub-process with an inspection equipment for defects or suspected defects occurred to the semiconductor substrates in a fabrication line consisting of a plurality of sub-processes arranged in sequence, each sub-process being performed by one or a plurality of manufacturing equipments;
a step of quantitatively evaluating defect features of the defects distribution on a semiconductor substrate generated by said step of generating a defects distribution;
a step of generating data of the defect features quantitatively evaluated by said step of quantitatively evaluating defect features for the manufacturing equipments that processed the semiconductor substrates and the sub-processes that applied to the semiconductor substrates; and
a causation inferring step of evaluating correlations between said defect features and said manufacturing equipments that processed the semiconductor substrates for each sub-process that applied to the semiconductor substrates, based on the defect features data for the manufacturing equipments that processed the semiconductor substrates and the sub-processes that applied to the semiconductor substrates, generated by said step of generating data, and selecting a sub-process of high correlation, thereby inferring a causal manufacturing equipment that caused the defects. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 12)
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13. A method for processing detected defect data comprising the following steps:
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a step of evaluating similarity of a defects distribution within a chip or shot specified in advance on a semiconductor substrate to a defects distribution within each of the remaining chips or shots on the semiconductor substrate by processing detected defect data obtained by inspecting semiconductor substrates processed until a predetermined sub-process with an inspection equipment for defects or suspected defects occurred to the semiconductor substrates in a fabrication line consisting of a plurality of sub-processes arranged in sequence, each sub-process being performed by one or more manufacturing equipments;
a step of evaluating how the similarity evaluated is distributed over the semiconductor substrate.
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14. An apparatus for processing detected defect data comprising:
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a portion for generating a defects distribution on a semiconductor substrate in order to investigate the cause of the defects, based on detected defect data obtained by inspecting semiconductor substrates processed until a predetermined sub-process, with an inspection equipment, for defects or suspected defects occurred to the semiconductor substrates in a fabrication line consisting of a plurality of sub-processes arranged in sequence, each sub-process being performed by one or a plurality of manufacturing equipments;
a portion for quantitatively evaluating defect features of the defects distribution on a semiconductor substrate generated by said portion for generating a defects distribution;
a portion for generating data of the defect features quantitatively evaluated by said portion for quantitatively evaluating defect features for the manufacturing equipments that processed the semiconductor substrates and the sub-processes that applied to the semiconductor substrates; and
a causation inferring portion for evaluating cyclicity of the defect features data for the manufacturing equipments that processed the semiconductor substrates and the sub-processes that applied to the semiconductor substrates, generated by said portion for generating data, thereby inferring a causal manufacturing equipment that caused the defects. - View Dependent Claims (15)
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16. An apparatus for processing detected defect data comprising:
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a portion for generating a defects distribution on a semiconductor substrate in order to investigate the cause of the defects, based on detected defect data obtained by inspecting semiconductor substrates processed until a predetermined sub-process, with an inspection equipment, for defects or suspected defects occurred to the semiconductor substrates in a fabrication line consisting of a plurality of sub-processes arranged in sequence, each sub-process being performed by one or a plurality of manufacturing equipments;
a portion for quantitatively evaluating defect features of the defects distribution on a semiconductor substrate generated by said portion for generating a defects distribution;
a portion for generating data of the defect features quantitatively evaluated by said portion for quantitatively evaluating defect features for the manufacturing equipments that processed the semiconductor substrates and the sub-processes that applied to the semiconductor substrates; and
a causation inferring portion for evaluating correlations between said defect features and said manufacturing equipments that processed the semiconductor substrates for each sub-process that applied to the semiconductor substrates, based on the defect features data for the manufacturing equipments that processed the semiconductor substrates and the sub-processes that applied to the semiconductor substrates, generated by said portion for generating data, and selecting a sub-process of high correlation, thereby inferring a causal manufacturing equipment that caused the defects. - View Dependent Claims (17)
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Specification