Method and system for tuning advanced process control parameters
First Claim
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1. A method of advanced process control (APC) for semiconductor fabrication, comprising:
- providing a present wafer to be processed by a semiconductor processing tool;
providing first data of previous wafers that have been processed by the semiconductor processing tool;
decoupling noise from the first data to generate second data;
evaluating an APC performance based on proximity of the second data to a target data;
determining a control parameter based on the APC performance; and
controlling the semiconductor processing tool with the control parameter to process the present wafer,wherein the control parameter includes a process time for a process, andwherein decoupling noise from the first data includes;
identifying an APC impact on the first data to extract a chamber effect on the process, wherein the chamber effect includes a condition of the processing tool that can influence the process; and
removing a pre-stage effect on the process, wherein the pre-stage effect includes a pre-stage influencing the process.
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Abstract
A method of advanced process control (APC) for semiconductor fabrication is provided. The method includes providing a present wafer to be processed by a semiconductor processing tool, providing first data of previous wafers that have been processed by the semiconductor processing tool, decoupling noise from the first data to generate second data, evaluating an APC performance based on proximity of the second data to a target data, determining a control parameter based on the APC performance, and controlling the semiconductor processing tool with the control parameter to process the present wafer.
59 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A method of advanced process control (APC) for semiconductor fabrication, comprising:
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providing a present wafer to be processed by a semiconductor processing tool; providing first data of previous wafers that have been processed by the semiconductor processing tool; decoupling noise from the first data to generate second data; evaluating an APC performance based on proximity of the second data to a target data; determining a control parameter based on the APC performance; and controlling the semiconductor processing tool with the control parameter to process the present wafer, wherein the control parameter includes a process time for a process, and wherein decoupling noise from the first data includes; identifying an APC impact on the first data to extract a chamber effect on the process, wherein the chamber effect includes a condition of the processing tool that can influence the process; and removing a pre-stage effect on the process, wherein the pre-stage effect includes a pre-stage influencing the process. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of advanced process control (APC) of an etching process, comprising:
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providing data of previous wafers that have undergone the etching process; removing an APC impact by a first modification of the data, the first modification isolating a chamber effect on the data, the chamber effect including a condition of an etching tool that can influence the etching process; removing a pre-stage effect by a second modification of the data, the pre-stage effect including an after-development-inspection process; determining an APC performance based on proximity of the modified data to a target data, the modified data including the first and second modifications of the data; determining a control parameter for the etching process based the APC performance; and controlling the etching process with the control parameter to process a present wafer, wherein determining the APC performance includes; determining a control profile distribution of an absolute difference between a measured trimmed line width of the unmodified data and a decoupled trimmed line width of the modified data; determining a target profile distribution of an absolute difference between the measured trimmed line width of the unmodified data and a target trimmed line width of the target data; determining a first set of mean and standard deviation of the control profile distribution and a second set of mean and standard deviation of the target profile distribution; determining a distance between the first set and the second set; and setting a APC performance index based on the distance. - View Dependent Claims (11)
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12. An advanced process control (APC) system for controlling a semiconductor processing tool, comprising:
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memory operable to store first data of previous wafers that have been processed by the semiconductor processing tool; and a controller operable to control the semiconductor processing tool based on instructions that; decouple noise from the first data to generate a second data; evaluate an APC performance based on proximity of the second data to a target data; and determine a control parameter based on the APC performance; and control the semiconductor processing tool with the control parameter to process a present wafer, wherein the control parameter includes a trim time for an etching process, wherein the instructions that decouple noise from the first data include instructions that; identify an APC impact on the first data to extract a chamber effect on the etching process, wherein the chamber effect includes a condition of an etching tool that can influence the etching process; and remove a pre-stage effect on the etching process, wherein the pre-stage effect includes an after-development-inspection of a patterning process. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification