Semiconductor wafer inspection system
First Claim
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1. An in-line analysis method for identifying a chemical defect present on a surface of a semiconductor wafer being processed in a clean room for production, comprising the steps of:
- providing an in-line semiconductor wafer processing system including a semiconductor wafer scanning system for analyzing chemical defects;
providing a semiconductor wafer having a surface;
fixing the semiconductor wafer upon a wafer stage of the semiconductor wafer scanning system;
providing a non-vibrating contact potential difference sensor;
engaging a positioning mechanism in communication with the non-vibrating contact potential sensor whereby the non-vibrating contact potential difference sensor is positionable in relation to the wafer stage via the positioning mechanism and the non-vibrating contact potential difference sensor is positioned in the in-line semiconductor wafer processing system;
continuously radially scanning the non-vibrating contact potential difference sensor about a circumferential track of the semiconductor wafer;
generating contact potential difference track data from the non-vibrating contact potential difference sensor during at least the radial scanning of the semiconductor wafer relative to the sensor, the track data being representative of changes along the circumferential track of contact potential difference of the semiconductor wafer surface relative to the non-vibrating contact potential difference sensor;
outputting the track data for the track to a computer system for determining whether the track was a last track;
assembling the contact potential difference track data for each scanned track to form representative contact potential difference track data representative of the semiconductor wafer surface;
processing the non-vibrating contact potential difference track data to automatically detect a pattern that represents a chemical defect or chemical non uniformity present on the semiconductor wafer surface;
processing the pattern to automatically identify the category of defect or non uniformity detected; and
outputting a large area spatial image, having a resolution of at least about 60 microns, of the semiconductor wafer surface, illustrating spatial location of the chemical defect or chemical non uniformity on the semiconductor wafer surface.
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Abstract
A method and system for identifying a defect or contamination on a surface of a material. The method and system involves providing a material, such as a semiconductor wafer, using a non-vibrating contact potential difference sensor to scan the wafer, generate contact potential difference data and processing that data to identify a pattern characteristic of the defect or contamination.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. An in-line analysis method for identifying a chemical defect present on a surface of a semiconductor wafer being processed in a clean room for production, comprising the steps of:
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providing an in-line semiconductor wafer processing system including a semiconductor wafer scanning system for analyzing chemical defects; providing a semiconductor wafer having a surface; fixing the semiconductor wafer upon a wafer stage of the semiconductor wafer scanning system; providing a non-vibrating contact potential difference sensor; engaging a positioning mechanism in communication with the non-vibrating contact potential sensor whereby the non-vibrating contact potential difference sensor is positionable in relation to the wafer stage via the positioning mechanism and the non-vibrating contact potential difference sensor is positioned in the in-line semiconductor wafer processing system; continuously radially scanning the non-vibrating contact potential difference sensor about a circumferential track of the semiconductor wafer; generating contact potential difference track data from the non-vibrating contact potential difference sensor during at least the radial scanning of the semiconductor wafer relative to the sensor, the track data being representative of changes along the circumferential track of contact potential difference of the semiconductor wafer surface relative to the non-vibrating contact potential difference sensor; outputting the track data for the track to a computer system for determining whether the track was a last track; assembling the contact potential difference track data for each scanned track to form representative contact potential difference track data representative of the semiconductor wafer surface; processing the non-vibrating contact potential difference track data to automatically detect a pattern that represents a chemical defect or chemical non uniformity present on the semiconductor wafer surface; processing the pattern to automatically identify the category of defect or non uniformity detected; and outputting a large area spatial image, having a resolution of at least about 60 microns, of the semiconductor wafer surface, illustrating spatial location of the chemical defect or chemical non uniformity on the semiconductor wafer surface. - View Dependent Claims (2, 4, 6, 7, 8)
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3. A method for identifying a defect present on a surface of a semiconductor wafer being processed for production, comprising the steps of:
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providing a semiconductor wafer processing system including a semiconductor wafer scanning system for analyzing defects; providing a semiconductor wafer having a surface; fixing the semiconductor wafer upon a wafer stage of the semiconductor wafer scanning system; providing a contact potential difference sensor; engaging a positioning mechanism in communication with the contact potential sensor whereby the contact potential difference sensor is positionable in relation to the wafer stage via the positioning mechanism and the contact potential difference sensor is positioned in the in-line semiconductor wafer processing system; continuously radially scanning the contact potential difference sensor about a circumferential track of the semiconductor wafer; generating contact potential difference track data from the contact potential difference sensor during at least the radial scanning of the semiconductor wafer relative to the sensor with the track data being representative of changes along the circumferential track of contact potential difference of the semiconductor wafer surface relative to the contact potential difference sensor; processing the contact potential difference track data for selected ones of the scanned track to form representative contact potential difference track data representative of the semiconductor wafer surface; and processing the contact potential difference track data to automatically detect a pattern that represents a defect. - View Dependent Claims (5)
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9. A method of detecting at least one of chemical, physical and electrical non-uniformities on a wafer surface comprising the steps of:
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providing a wafer having a surface; providing a contact potential difference sensor having a probe tip; scanning the wafer surface laterally relative to the contact potential difference sensor; generating sensor data representative of changes in the contact potential difference between the sensor probe tip and the wafer surface as the sensor probe tip scans laterally across different locations on the wafer surface; and processing the contact potential difference sensor data to detect a pattern that represents a defect. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method of detecting a chemical contaminant on a semiconductor wafer surface during processing of a semiconductor wafer, comprising the steps of:
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providing a semiconductor wafer having a surface; providing a semiconductor wafer processing system including a semiconductor wafer scanning system; positioning the semiconductor wafer in the semiconductor wafer scanning system; positioning a contact potential difference sensor in operational relationship with the semiconductor wafer; moving the contact potential difference sensor and the semiconductor wafer relative to each other in a lateral scanning manner; generating from the lateral movement of the semiconductor wafer relative to the contact potential difference probe a signal output representative of the changes in contact potential between the contact potential difference sensor and the semiconductor wafer as the relative lateral motion occurs, thereby providing scanning data representative of the changes in the contact potential difference across the semiconductor wafer relative to the contact potential difference sensor; processing the scanning data to locate areas of high contact potential difference variability characteristic of changes in a chemical state of the semiconductor wafer; and comparing the scanning data to known contact potential difference data sets to determine whether the semiconductor wafer contains any chemical contaminant. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A system for in-line semiconductor wafer processing comprising:
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a semiconductor wafer processing system to identify a defect on a semiconductor wafer, the processing system including a wafer scanning system; a semiconductor wafer; a semiconductor wafer stage of the wafer scanning system for receiving the semiconductor wafer, the semiconductor wafer stage being rotatable and engageable with the semiconductor wafer; a contact potential difference semiconductor sensor system having a contact potential difference probe; a positioning assembly in communication with the contact potential difference probe whereby the contact potential difference probe can be positioned relative to the semiconductor wafer secured on the semiconductor wafer stage; a scanning assembly to laterally scan the semiconductor wafer relative to the contact potential difference probe; the contact potential difference probe adapted to produce a signal characteristic of the defect on the semiconductor wafer in response to a change in the contact potential difference generated by relative lateral scanning motion of the contact potential difference probe and the semiconductor wafer; a computer in communication with the contact potential difference probe of the scanning system, whereby relative contact potential difference data is output by the contact potential difference probe to the computer; and a visual image characteristic of the defect and its spatial distribution on the semiconductor wafer generated by the computer and representative of the contact potential difference data. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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Specification