Automatic recipe validation

• US 7,283,882 B1
• Filed: 02/15/2006
• Issued: 10/16/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 02/15/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kla-Tencor Technologies Corporation (KLA Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kla-Tencor Technologies Corporation (KLA Corporation)
• Inventors: Baskin, Igor, Simkin, Arkady, Bransky, Itai, Omer, Shachor
• Primary Examiner(s): Picard; Leo
• Assistant Examiner(s): Rapp; Chad
• Application Number:
  US11/355,598
• Time in Patent Office: 608 Days
• Field of Search: 700/26, 700/27, 700/96, 700/109, 700/110, 700/117, 700/121, 707/203, 717170-173
• US Class Current: 700/96
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/408 characterised by data handling or data format, e.g. reading, buffering or conversion of data
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/32097 Recipe programming for flexible batch
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/36016 Unified language for machines and translation to each
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/45031 Manufacturing semiconductor wafers

Abstract

Automated comparison of tool recipes is described. A target recipe is digitally translated from a tool language to a standard language format to produce a translated recipe. The translated recipe is digitally compared to a source recipe that is also in the standard language format.

Claims

1. In a system having one or more tools, a method for recipe comparison, the method comprising:

digitally translating a target recipe from a tool language to a standard language format to produce a translated recipe;

digitally comparing one or more portions of the translated recipe to a source recipe, wherein the source recipe is in the standard language format, and

reporting a result of comparing the one or more portions of the translated recipe to the source recipe.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein comparing the translated target recipe includes comparing one or more criteria in the translated recipe against one or more corresponding parameters in the source recipe.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein comparing the one or more criteria in the translated recipe includes determining whether a value of a parameter in the translated recipe is within a range of values defined in the source recipe.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein comparing the one or more criteria in the translated recipe includes determining whether a criteria in the translated recipe is equal to a value defined in the source recipe.

5. The method of claim 2 further comprising replacing, if required per user definition, an unacceptable parameter value in the translated recipe with a corresponding parameter from the standard recipe.

6. The method of claim 2 wherein comparing the one or more criteria in the translated recipe includes comparing one or more parameters in the translated recipe to corresponding parameters in a template recipe, wherein the template recipe contains a subset of possible recipe parameters for the translated recipe.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein digitally comparing one or more portions of the translated recipe to a source recipe includes determining if a recipe corresponding to the source recipe exists on a target tool.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein digitally comparing the translated recipe includes digitally comparing one or more lines of the translated recipe against one or more corresponding lines of the source recipe.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein digitally translating the target recipe and comparing the translated tool recipe take place automatically prior to an attempt to run the tool recipe on a tool.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the target recipe is a tool recipe associated with a semiconductor processing tool and the source recipe is a standard recipe, wherein digitally comparing the translated recipe to a source recipe includes determining whether the translated recipe passes a comparison with the standard recipe.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising a step of running the tool recipe on the tool if the tool recipe passes the comparison with the standard recipe.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising a step of notifying a user if the translated recipe fails the comparison with the standard recipe.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising a step of preventing the recipe from running automatically on the tool if the translated recipe fails the comparison with the standard recipe.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the standard language format is a text format.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein the standard language format is a markup language.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the markup language is XML, SGML or HTML.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more tools include one or more semiconductor processing tools.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein the one or more semiconductor processing tools include one or more metrology tools.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the one or more metrology tools include an overlay tool, thin film tool, CD-SEM, wafer inspection tool, electron beam tool, or scatterometry tool.

20. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more semiconductor processing tools include a deposition tool, etch tool, chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) tool, lithography tool, or stepper developer tool.

21. The method of claim 1 wherein the standard recipe or a standard recipe template is stored on a database management server coupled to the one or more tools or on a Fab Host coupled to the one or more tools.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein digitally translating the tool recipe includes the use of a translation code implemented on a database management client coupled to the tool and the database management server.

23. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of retrieving the tool recipe from a tool before digitally translating the tool recipe.

24. The method of claim 23 wherein digitally comparing the translated tool recipe to the standard recipe includes determining a modification time of the tool recipe.

25. The method of claim 1 wherein digitally translating a target recipe includes digitally translating recipes from two or more tools from a tool language to a standard language format to produce two or more corresponding translated recipes;

and wherein digitally comparing one or more portions of the translated recipe includes comparing one or more parameters from each of the two or more translated recipes to corresponding standard parameters in a standard recipe.

26. A recipe database management server, comprising

a processor;

a memory coupled to the processor;

a database stored within the memory, the database containing one or more standard tool recipes; and

a set of coded instructions configured to execute on the processor a method for recipe comparison in a system having one or more tools coupled to the recipe database management server, the method comprising;

translating a tool recipe stored in a processing tool from a tool language to a standard language format to produce a translated tool recipe with a translator running on the database management server;

comparing the translated tool recipe to a standard recipe stored on the database management server in the standard language format.

27. A processor readable medium having embodied therein a set of processor readable instructions, the processor readable instructions, the instructions being configured to implement a method for recipe comparison in a system having one or more tools coupled to a recipe database management server, the method comprising:

translating a tool recipe stored a processing tool from a tool language to a standard language format to produce a translated tool recipe with a translator running on the database management server;

comparing the translated tool recipe to a standard recipe stored on the database management server in the standard language format.