Real time non-destructive dose monitor

Claim 2

An ion implantation system for irradiating a workpiece, comprising (a) charged particle accelerator means for producing a flux of energetic ions, (b) flux distributing means for directing the flux over said workpiece in accord with a preselected scanning pattern function to obtain a desired ion implantation treatment, (c) sensor means for deriving a flux magnitude signal proportional to the instantaneous magnitude of the flux incident on the workpiece wherein the instantaneous dose suffered by said workpiece is represented, (d) dose imaging means jointly cooperative with said sensor means and said flux distributing means for accumulating a record of the distribution of the differential cumulative magnitude of the flux incident on the workpiece as a function of coordinates on the surface of said workpiece, said record comprising a differential cumulative dose distribution function, (e) dose evaluation means operative upon the record of the differential cumulative dose distribution function to derive a corrected scanning pattern function for modifying said preselected scanning pattern function during said ion implantation treatment.

Claim 3

The ion implantation system of claim 1 wherein said dose imaging means further comprises means operative upon said flux magnitude signal for controlling the signal-to-noise ratio of the signal representative of said instantaneous dose.

Claim 4

The ion implantation system of claim 2 wherein said dose evaluation means comprises means for selecting a model dose distribution so as to define a desired dose distribution, means for comparing said model dose distribution and said differential cumulative dose distribution wherein a difference distribution is obtained, means operative upon said difference distribution and communicating with said flux distributing means to alter said pre-selected scanning pattern in accord with said difference distribution to cause said cumulative dose distribution function including increments to same as intercepted by said workpiece to converge toward said model dose distribution.

Claim 5

The system of claim 3 wherein said means for comparing determines a subtraction effected between said model distribution and cumulative dose distribution and the resulting difference represents a subtracted difference.

Claim 6

The system of claim 3 wherein said means for comparing forms a ratio between said model distribution and cumulative dose distribution and said difference represents a function of said ratio.

Claim 7

The system of claim 1 wherein said flux distributing means comprises mechanical means for introducing relative motion between said workpiece and said flux of energetic ions.

Claim 8

The system of claim 1 wherein said flux distributing means comprises deflection means for deflecting said flux in a direction substantially transverse to said flux.

Claim 9

A dose monitoring system for an irradiating apparatus comprising, (a) irradiating means for impinging a workpiece with a primary radiation flux of quantity sufficient to obtain a desired irradiation treatment, (b) sensor means for detecting a portion of the secondary radiation attending the impingement of primary radiation at a known surface portion of said workpiece, and generating an instantaneous dose increment signal proportional thereto, (c) dose imaging means for obtaining a dose accumulation record from said instantaneous dose increment signal from which a representation is constructed of the cumulative dose distribution over said known surface portion of the radiation dose suffered by said workpiece, (d) dose defect imaging means cooperatively disposed with said dose imaging means to compare said representation to a desired cumulative dose distribution to yield an error function expressing the result of the comparison during irradiation treatment by said irradiating means.

Claim 10

A dose monitoring system for an irradiating apparatus comprising, (a) irradiating means for impinging a workpiece with a primary radiation flux of quantity sufficient to obtain a desired irradiation treatment, (b) sensor means for detecting a portion of the secondary radiation attending the impingement of primary radiation at a known surface portion of said workpiece, and generating an instantaneous dose increment signal proportional thereto, (c) dose imaging means for obtaining a dose accumulation record from said instantaneous dose increment signal from which a representation is constructed of the cumulative dose distribution over said known surface portion of the radiation dose suffered by said workpiece, (d) dose defect imaging means cooperatively disposed with said dose imaging means to compare said representation to a desired cumulative dose distribution to yield an error function expressing the result of the comparison during irradiation treatment by said irradiating means.

Claim 11

The system of claim 8 comprising analog-to-digital converter means operative upon said instantaneous dose increment signal to render same in digital form.

Claim 12

The system of claim 9 wherein said dose imaging means comprises memory means and cooperatively associated computational means for cumulating said record.

Claim 13

The system of claim 10 further comprising means for controllably distributing said radiation flux to selected area portions of said workpiece wherein each said selected area portion is identifiable concurrently with the corresponding instantaneous dose signal.

Claim 14

The dose monitoring system of claim 8 wherein the comparison is a difference of said representation and said desired cumulative dose distribution.

Claim 15

The dose monitoring system of claim 8 wherein the comparison is a ratio of said representation and said desired cumulative dose distribution.

Claim 18

The method of claim 14 wherein said step of comparing comprises normalizing said measured dose distribution and said preselected distribution shape and obtaining a distribution function representative of the difference therebetween and constructing an error function from said difference distribution.

Claim 19

The method of claim 14 wherein said step of distributing comprises introducing a mechanical relative motion between said workpiece and said primary radiation flux, said motion substantially transverse to the direction of said flux.

Claim 20

The method of claim 14 wherein said step of distributing comprises deflecting said primary radiation flux in a direction substantially transverse to the direction of said flux.

Claim 21

A process of regulating the accumulated radiation dose received at a workpiece surface, comprising the steps of (a) controllably and repetitively irradiating portions of a workpiece with a primary radiation, (b) detecting a secondary radiation causally related to said step of irradiating and deriving a signal from said secondary radiation proportional to the instantaneous intensity of said primary radiation impinging one of said portions, (c) summing a measure of said signal with corresponding previous measures and retaining same, whereby a cumulative dose distribution is formed for each said portions, (d) comparing said cumulative dose distribution with a predetermined desired dose distribution to derive a dose error distribution and altering step (a) for subsequent repetitions thereof in accord with said dose distribution to converge said cumulative dose distribution to approach congruence with said desired dose distribution.

Claim 22

A process of regulating the accumulated radiation dose received at a workpiece surface, comprising the steps of (a) controllably and repetitively irradiating portions of a workpiece with a primary radiation, (b) detecting a secondary radiation causally related to said step of irradiating and deriving a signal from said secondary radiation proportional to the instantaneous intensity of said primary radiation impinging one of said portions, (c) summing a measure of said signal with corresponding previous measures and retaining same, whereby a cumulative dose distribution is formed for each said portions, (d) comparing said cumulative dose distribution with a predetermined desired dose distribution to derive a dose error distribution and altering step (a) for subsequent repetitions thereof in accord with said dose distribution to converge said cumulative dose distribution to approach congruence with said desired dose distribution.

Claim 23

The process of claim 18 wherein said step of comparing comprises normalizing said cumulative dose distribution and said desired dose distribution, combining said distributions to obtain the difference distribution therebetween and reflecting said difference distribution about said desired dose distribution to obtain a weighting function.

Claim 24

The process of claim 19 wherein said step of altering comprises weighting subsequent irradiation of said workpiece by said weighting function.

Claim 25

The process of claim 19 wherein said step of combining comprises a subtraction between said desired and cumulative distributions.

Claim 26

The process of claim 19 wherein said step of combining comprises forming a ratio of said desired and cumulative distributions.

Claim 27

A semiconductor wafer to which a selected impurity has been controllably added through the steps of (a) producing a beam of said impurity, (b) distributing said beam over a surface of said wafer whereby the coordinates of the locus of the beam impingement on said wafer are identifiable, (c) measuring the quantity of impurity implanted at said locus in a discrete time interval and repeating said step of measuring for a plurality of loci thereby forming a measured spatial distribution function of the implanted spatial impurity over said surface, (d) determining a desired spatial distribution of impurity concentration, (e) summing the measurements acquired at step (c) to determine a cumulative measured spatial distribution concentration with said desired spatial distribution of impurity concentration, and deriving a relationship distribution function of the relationship therebetween, (g) forming an error function from said relationship distribution and altering said step of distributing to reduce said relationship distribution to an acceptable difference whereby said semiconductor wafer is characterized by an implanted impurity spatially distributed close to a desired spatial distribution function.

Claim 28

A semiconductor wafer to which a selected impurity has been controllably added through the steps of (a) producing a beam of said impurity, (b) distributing said beam over a surface of said wafer whereby the coordinates of the locus of the beam impingement on said wafer are identifiable, (c) measuring the quantity of impurity implanted at said locus in a discrete time interval and repeating said step of measuring for a plurality of loci thereby forming a measured spatial distribution function of the implanted spatial impurity over said surface, (d) determining a desired spatial distribution of impurity concentration, (e) summing the measurements acquired at step (c) to determine a cumulative measured spatial distribution concentration with said desired spatial distribution of impurity concentration, and deriving a relationship distribution function of the relationship therebetween, (g) forming an error function from said relationship distribution and altering said step of distributing to reduce said relationship distribution to an acceptable difference whereby said semiconductor wafer is characterized by an implanted impurity spatially distributed close to a desired spatial distribution function.