In-situ Process Control for Semiconductor Manufacturing
نویسندگان
چکیده
There is a critical need for exact, real-time reaction control of the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) systems that are used for semiconductor device manufacture [1]. At present, the development of real-time control for reactions within production-style reactor configurations is hampered by a number of issues: The nature, concentrations and physical distributions of the chemical species within the deposition chamber must be measurable for effective feedback control. These parameters are virtually uncharacterized at this time, even for processes that have been in use for prolonged periods [2]. The chemical kinetic relationships underlying the fabrication processes, while they have been modeled in certain cases have, in most instances, not been experimentally confirmed. These models are especially needed to effectively control particle nucleation within CVD reactors. The lack of chemical data on these systems is, at least in part, due to the fact that reliable, suitably configured sensors have not been generally available. The above impediments to real-time CVD reaction control are being eliminated. Fourier-transform infra-red (FT-IR) spectrometry is being used to provide the required sensing, and the chemical kinetic relationships involved in device manufacture are being understood and modeled. A prototype control system has been developed using an FTIR sensor to control the reaction chemistry for a specific CVD process, and a plan for extending and commercializing this technology has been created. These recent accomplishments are described in this paper.
منابع مشابه
Real time scatterometry: a new metrology to in situ microelectronics processes control
In situ and real time control of the different process steps in semiconductor device manufacturing becomes a critical challenge, especially for the lithography and plasma etching processes. Real time scatterometry is among the few solutions able to meet the requirement for in line monitoring. In this paper we demonstrate that real time scatterometry can be used as a real time monitoring techniq...
متن کاملDirections for Semiconductor Wafer-fabrication for Twenty First Century
Research work carried out in the last decade on the Microelectronics Manufacturing Science and Technology (MMST) program sought to address a need for increased flexibility in IC manufacturing through single-wafer processing, with in-situ sensors and real-time process/factory control has lead to a successful demonstration of a novel approach to IC manufacturing based on flexible process. To make...
متن کاملUtilizing Fuzzy Data and Rules for Discrete Control of Semiconductor Manufacturing Processes
Semiconductor wafer fabrication is a very complex manufacturing process. Many semiconductor processes are not very well understood. The control of semiconductor manufacturing processes is, thus, an active research area. Even though various algorithms have been developed for process control and optimization, the scope of application of these algorithms is not very well-characterized due to the c...
متن کاملProcess Automation in Semiconductor Manufacturing: Issues and Solutions
While the area of process automation in semiconductor manufacturing has many issues in common with process automation and enactment in business processes, the nature of the semiconductor manufacturing process introduces a number of challenging new issues. Among these issues is the need to not only automate the process but also to continuously control and optimize it. Furthermore the semantics o...
متن کاملA run-to-run control framework for VLSI manufacturing
A run-to-run (R2R) control framework has been developed for application to supervisory control of semiconductor manufacturing processes. This generic framework, which is being developed for eventual transfer to industry, is one component of a multi-level control system that includes real-time equipment and process control as well as pseudo-real-time process control elements operating in conjunc...
متن کاملAn Ontology for Production Control of Semiconductor Manufacturing Processes
In this paper, we describe an ontology for a hierarchically organized production control system in semiconductor manufacturing. The semiconductor manufacturing domain is characterized by reentrant product flows, sequence dependent setup-times, prescribed due-dates, a diverse product mix, a mix of different process types including batch processes and preventive maintenance issues because of comp...
متن کامل