Program for controlling laser apparatus and recording medium for recording program for controlling laser apparatus and capable of being read out by computer

• US 7,588,974 B2
• Filed: 11/01/2006
• Issued: 09/15/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: Mukao, Kyouichi, Miyanaga, Akiharu
• Primary Examiner(s): Garber; Charles D.
• Assistant Examiner(s): STEVENSON, ANDRE C
• Application Number:
  US11/590,781
• Publication Number:
  US 20080009120A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,049 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 438/158
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/4097 characterised by using design data to control NC machines, e.g. CAD/CAM G05B19/4093 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/45027 Masking, project image on wafer semiconductor, photo tracer
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/02 Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS]

Abstract

The object of the present invention is to solve problems of treatment time when using an SLS method or continuous-oscillation laser. An indispensable portion is scanned with a laser beam in order to crystallize a semiconductor film by driving a laser and so on in accordance with the positions of islands instead of scanning and irradiating the whole semiconductor film. The present invention makes it possible to omit the time for irradiating a portion to be removed through patterning after crystallizing the semiconductor film with a laser beam and greatly shorten the treatment time for one substrate.

Claims

1. A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device comprising steps of:

forming a semiconductor film provided with a marker in accordance with information on computer aided design masks for forming a thin film transistor including a source, channel and drain over a substrate;

extracting a positional and directional information of the source, channel and drain for selectively irradiating the semiconductor film with a laser beam from the information on computer aided design masks;

storing the positional and directional information in a database;

obtaining an optimum driving condition of a laser system for minimizing laser treatment time by considering speed of drive of the laser system and time required for changing drives of the laser system in accordance with the positional and directional information stored in the database;

controlling a position to be scanned with the laser beam in accordance with a position of the marker so that a scanning direction with the laser beam becomes parallel with a direction in which carriers move in the channel; and

controlling the laser system in accordance with the optimum driving condition of the laser system, thereby selectively irradiating the semiconductor film with the laser beam.

2. The method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 1,

wherein the optimum driving condition of the laser system is obtained by using one of optimization algorithm among a linear programming method, branch and bound method, neuron circuit network, and annealing method.

3. The method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 1,

wherein the optimum driving condition of the laser system is obtained by using an evolution-theoretical technique represented by a genetic algorithm.

4. The method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 1, the laser beam is irradiated over the substrate for crystallizing the semiconductor film.

5. A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device comprising steps of:

forming a semiconductor film provided with a marker in accordance with information on computer aided design masks for forming a thin film transistor including a source, channel and drain over a substrate;

extracting a positional and directional information of the source, channel and drain for selectively irradiating the semiconductor film with a laser beam from the information on computer aided design masks;

storing the positional and directional information in a database;

obtaining an optimum driving condition of a laser system for minimizing laser treatment time by considering speed of drive of the laser system, time required for changing drives of the laser system, and time required for starting actual driving after generating a driving command in accordance with the positional and directional information stored in the database;

controlling a position to be scanned with the laser beam in accordance with a position of the marker so that a scanning direction with the laser beam becomes parallel with a direction in which carriers move in the channel; and

controlling the laser system in accordance with the optimum driving condition of the laser system, thereby selectively irradiating the semiconductor film with the laser beam.

6. The method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 5,

wherein the optimum driving condition of the laser system is obtained by using one of optimization algorithm among a linear programming method, branch and bound method, neuron circuit network, and annealing method.

7. The method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 5,

wherein the optimum driving condition of the laser system is obtained by using an evolution-theoretical technique represented by a genetic algorithm.

8. The method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 5, the laser beam is irradiated over the substrate for crystallizing the semiconductor film.

9. A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device comprising steps of:

forming a semiconductor film provided with a marker in accordance with information on computer aided design masks for forming a thin film transistor including a source, channel and drain over a substrate;

extracting a positional and directional information of the source, channel and drain for selectively irradiating the semiconductor film with a laser beam from the information on computer aided design masks;

obtaining an optimum driving condition of a laser system for minimizing laser treatment time by considering speed of drive of the laser system and time required for changing drives of the laser system in accordance with the positional and directional information;

controlling a position to be scanned with the laser beam in accordance with a position of the marker so that a scanning direction with the laser beam becomes parallel with a direction in which carriers move in the channel; and

controlling the laser system in accordance with the optimum driving condition of the laser system, thereby selectively irradiating the semiconductor film with the laser beam.

10. The method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 9,

wherein the optimum driving condition of the laser system is obtained by using one of optimization algorithm among a linear programming method, branch and bound method, neuron circuit network, and annealing method.

11. The method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 9,

wherein the optimum driving condition of the laser system is obtained by using an evolution-theoretical technique represented by a genetic algorithm.

12. The method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 9, the laser beam is irradiated over the substrate for crystallizing the semiconductor film.

13. A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device comprising steps of:

forming a semiconductor film provided with a marker in accordance with information on computer aided design masks for forming a thin film transistor including a source, channel and drain over a substrate;

extracting a positional and directional information of the source, channel and drain for selectively irradiating the semiconductor film with a laser beam from the information on computer aided design masks;

obtaining an optimum driving condition of at least one of a laser, mirror, slit, and stage in accordance with the positional and directional information;

controlling a position to be scanned with the laser beam in accordance with a position of the marker so that a scanning direction with the laser beam becomes parallel with a direction in which carriers move in the channel; and

controlling at least one of the laser, mirror, slit, and stage in accordance with the optimum driving condition, thereby selectively irradiating the semiconductor film with the laser beam.

14. The method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 13,

wherein the optimum driving condition is obtained by using one of optimization algorithm among a linear programming method, branch and bound method, neuron circuit network, and annealing method.

15. The method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 13,

wherein the optimum driving condition is obtained by using an evolutionary technique represented by a genetic algorithm.

16. The method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 13, the laser beam is irradiated over the substrate for crystallizing the semiconductor film.

17. A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device comprising steps of:

forming a semiconductor film provided with a marker in accordance with information on computer aided design masks for forming a thin film transistor over a substrate;

extracting a positional and directional information of the source, channel and drain for selectively irradiating the semiconductor film with a laser beam from the information on computer aided design masks;

obtaining an optimum driving condition of at least one of a laser, mirror, slit, and stage and minimizing a laser treatment time in accordance with the positional and directional information;

controlling a position to be scanned with the laser beam in accordance with a position of the marker so that a scanning direction with the laser beam becomes parallel with a direction in which carriers move in the channel; and

controlling at least one of the laser, mirror, slit, and stage in accordance with the optimum driving condition, thereby selectively irradiating the semiconductor film with the laser beam.

18. The method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 17,

wherein the optimum driving condition is obtained by using one of optimization algorithm among a linear programming method, branch and bound method, neuron circuit network, and annealing method.

19. The method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 17,

wherein the optimum driving condition is obtained by using an evolutionary technique represented by a genetic algorithm.

20. The method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 17, the laser beam is irradiated over the substrate for crystallizing the semiconductor film.