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US5508934A
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Multi-point semiconductor wafer fabrication process temperature control system
Assignee: Texas Instruments Inc
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Filing: 1994-05-04
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Granted: 1996-04-16
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Expires: 2014-05-04
Abstract
Abstract A computer controlled system for real-time control of semiconductor wafer fabrication process uses a multi-point, real-time, non-invasive, in-situ pyrometry-based temperature sensor with emissivity compensation to produce semiconductor wafer reflectance, transmittance, and radiant heat energy measurements. The temperature values that the sensor determines are true temperatures for various points on the wafer. The process control computer stores surface roughness values for the semiconductor wafer being examined. The surface roughness values are produced by surface roughness sensor that makes non-invasive and in-situ measurements. The surface roughness sensor performs roughness measurements of the semiconductor wafer based on coherent reflectance and scatter reflectance of the wafer. Based on surface roughness measurements, the process control computer can use the real-time, in-situ measurements of the multi-point pyrometry-based sensor to obtain real-time measurements of time wafer temperature distribution. By associating a multi-zone lamp module having a real-time controller with the present invention a feedback circuit is provided for real-time precision semiconductor wafer process control.
Inventors
- 👤 Mehrdad M. Moslehi
- 👤 Habib N. Najm
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-02 09:19
CPC Classifications
G; G01; G01J; G01J5/00; G01J5/0003
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 68
Claim 1
Independent Claim
87 words
A closed-loop temperature control system for real-time control of a semiconductor wafer fabrication process comprising: a multi-point pyrometry-based temperature sensor with emissivity compensation for performing multi-point emissivity-compensated temperature measurements of the semiconductor wafer; a surface roughness sensor for measuring surface roughness of the semiconductor wafer; a heat source controller for controlling the heat source and wafer temperature distribution uniformity; and circuitry for associating said temperature measurements with said surface roughness measurements and for adjusting said heat source controller in response to said temperature and surface roughness measurements.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
87 words
A closed-loop temperature control system for real-time control of a semiconductor wafer fabrication process comprising: a multi-point pyrometry-based temperature sensor with emissivity compensation for performing multi-point emissivity-compensated temperature measurements of the semiconductor wafer; a surface roughness sensor for measuring surface roughness of the semiconductor wafer; a heat source controller for controlling the heat source and wafer temperature distribution uniformity; and circuitry for associating said temperature measurements with said surface roughness measurements and for adjusting said heat source controller in response to said temperature and surface roughness measurements.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
141 words
The system of claim 1, wherein said pyrometry-based temperature comprises: a laser source for emitting a beam of electromagnetic energy; a beam splitter for receiving said beam, splitting said beam into a plurality of beams, and directing said beams as incident beams to the surface of the semiconductor wafer; circuitry for receiving a plurality of reflected beams caused by said incident beams and for receiving radiant heat energy from the semiconductor wafer; circuitry for detecting and processing said incident beams, said reflected beams and said radiant heat energy, said circuitry for converting detections of said incident and reflected beams as well as surface roughness measurements to values for semiconductor wafer emissivity and for converting said radiant heat detections into semiconductor temperature measurements; and circuitry for compensating said temperature measurements by said emissivity measurements for obtaining true wafer temperature values in real-time.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
43 words
The system of claim 2, further comprising circuitry for receiving a plurality of transmitted beams caused by interaction of said incident beams with the semiconductor wafer and wherein said detecting and recording circuitry further comprises circuitry for detecting and recording said transmitted beams.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
16 words
The system of claim 3, wherein said laser source generates a beam of infrared electromagnetic energy.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
20 words
The system of claim 4, wherein said infrared laser source produces a beam having a wavelength of approximately 5.4 microns.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
16 words
The system of claim 1, wherein said laser source generates a chopped beam of electromagnetic energy.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
24 words
The system of claim 6, wherein said chopped beam has a chopping frequency that relates to the rates of real-time temperature and emissivity measurements.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
49 words
The system of claim 1, wherein said laser and said beam splitter associate with the fabrication reactor through a fiber-optic network, said fiber-optic network being associated to receive said beams from said beam splitter and to direct a plurality of said beams as incident beams to the semiconductor wafer.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
41 words
The system of claim 8, further comprising a plurality of fiber-optic bundles associated to receive each of said incident beams from said fiber-optic network for delivering and collimating said incident beams as said incident beams are directed to said semiconductor wafer.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
45 words
The system of claim 9, wherein the heat source comprises a lamp module for directing optical energy toward the semiconductor wafer and said fiber-optic bundles mount within said lamp module for directing said incident beams in a direction essentially perpendicular to said semiconductor wafer surface.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
47 words
The system of claim 2, wherein said beam and radiant heat energy detecting and signal processing circuitry further comprises a chopper multiplexer for receiving a plurality of individual signals representing said beams and radiant heat measurements and multiplexing said signals to produce a single time-division-multiplexed output signal.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
48 words
The system of claim 11, wherein said detecting and signal processing circuitry comprises an optical signal detector for detecting said beams and radiant energy signals and said chopper multiplexer comprises a chopper wheel assembly for selectively directing each of individual beams and radiant energy signals within said multiplexer.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
44 words
The system of claim 3, wherein said compensating circuitry comprises a process control computer for converting said incident and reflected beam measurements to emissivity values for the semiconductor wafer and for converting said radiant heat energy and emissivity measurements into semiconductor wafer temperature measurements.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
102 words
The system of claim 1, wherein said pyrometry-based temperature sensor comprises: an electromagnetic energy source for directing a plurality of incident coherent beams of electromagnetic energy to the surface of the semiconductor wafer; circuitry for collecting a plurality of reflected coherent beams of electromagnetic energy resulting from the reflection of said plurality of incident coherent beams from the semiconductor wafer; circuitry for collecting radiant heat energy emitted from a plurality of points on a semiconductor wafer; and circuitry for calculating temperature values for the semiconductor wafer as a function of said plurality of incident reflective coherent beams and said radiant heat energy.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
66 words
The system of claim 14, further comprising circuitry for associating each of said plurality of incident coherent beams with a reflected coherent beam to yield a beam pair, and further associating each beam pair with the radiant heat energy collected from the point of incidence and reflection from the semiconductor wafer to yield a single temperature value for each respective probed point of the semiconductor wafer.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
56 words
The system in claim 14, wherein the semiconductor wafer resides within the semiconductor wafer fabrication reactor having a lamp module for directly heating the semiconductor wafer and wherein said incident coherent beam collecting circuitry and said reflected coherent beam and radiant heat energy collecting circuitry operate in real-time as said lamp module heats the semiconductor wafer.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
41 words
The system of claim 16, wherein said incident and reflected coherent beam circuitry respectively direct and collect said incident and reflected beams and said radiant heat energy collecting circuitry collects said energy along paths essentially perpendicular to the semiconductor wafer surface.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
38 words
The system of claim 14, further comprising circuitry for calculating emissivity of the semiconductor wafer as a function of said incident coherent beam electromagnetic energy and reflected coherent beam electromagnetic energy as well as pre-process surface roughness measurements.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
43 words
The system of claim 15, wherein the semiconductor wafer resides within a semiconductor wafer fabrication reactor comprising a multi-zone lamp module, said multi-zone lamp module comprising a plurality of controllable lamp heating zones and further comprising circuitry for uniformly heating the semiconductor wafer.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
40 words
The system of claim 19, further comprising circuitry for associating each of said point temperature values with at least one of said controllable lamp heating zones and controlling said lamp heating zones in response to said associated measured temperature values.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
35 words
The system of claim 20, further comprising circuitry for calculating the emissivity of each of said incidence and reflection points simultaneous with obtaining the radiance values associated with each of said incidence and reflection points.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
30 words
The system of claim 1, wherein said surface roughness sensor measures roughness of the semiconductor wafer surface based on coherent reflectance and scattered reflectance measurements at the semiconductor wafer surface.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
96 words
The system of claim 22, wherein said surface roughness sensor comprises: an incident electromagnetic beam energy source; a fiber-optic network associated with said energy source for directing electromagnetic beam energy in the direction of the semiconductor wafer; a receiving sensor element for measuring the amount of electromagnetic power coherently reflected from the semiconductor wafer surface in the specular direction and the amount of electromagnetic power scatter reflected from the semiconductor wafer surface; and circuitry for determining semiconductor wafer surface roughness based on the measurements of said coherently reflected beam power and said scatter reflected beam power.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
70 words
The system of claim 23, wherein said surface roughness sensor further comprises: a transmitting sensor element for measuring the amount of electromagnetic power coherently transmitted through the semiconductor wafer in the specular direction and the amount of electromagnetic power scatter transmitted through the semiconductor wafer, and wherein said determining circuitry further includes circuitry for including said coherently transmitted power and scatter transmitted power in determining said semiconductor wafer surface roughness.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
16 words
The system of claim 23, wherein said electromagnetic energy source comprises a coherent laser energy source.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
20 words
The system of claim 25, wherein said coherent laser energy source emits coherent energy in the range of 0.4-15 μm.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
20 words
The system of claim 23, wherein said coherent laser energy source emits coherent energy of approximately 1.55 μm in wavelength.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
20 words
The system of claim 23, wherein said coherent laser energy source emits coherent energy of approximately 1.3 μm in wavelength.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
54 words
The system of claim 23, wherein said receiving sensor element comprises a specular reflection sensor for receiving said coherently reflected electromagnetic power and a scatter reflection sensor for detecting said scatter reflected electromagnetic power, said scatter reflection sensor comprising an imaging lens for focusing said scatter reflected electromagnetic power to said scatter reflection sensor.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
41 words
The system of claim 1, wherein said associating circuitry further comprises a memory for storing a plurality of surface roughness values used for the semiconductor wafer, said surface roughness values used for determining semiconductor wafer emissivity values during wafer fabrication processing.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
49 words
The system of claim 1, wherein said associating circuitry comprises a process control computer, said process control computer further comprising a plurality of stored algorithms for time averaging reflectance and transmittance values of the semiconductor wafer to produce time-averaged reflectance and transmittance values during a semiconductor wafer fabrication process.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
35 words
The system of claim 31, wherein said process control computer further comprises associated computer software algorithms for using measured semiconductor wafer reflectance and transmittance values for obtaining wafer emissivity values for device fabrication process control.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
99 words
The system of claim 32, wherein the lamp heat source comprises a multi-zone lamp module having a plurality of controllable lamp heating zone, said lamp heating zones being associated with a real-time controller for multi-zone control of said lamp heat source said pyrometry-based temperature sensor further comprising a plurality of sensing devices for sensing the semiconductor wafer temperature distribution, said sensing points further associated with said lamp heat source and said process control computer associated to provide a feedback circuit for real-time precision control of said multi-zone lamp module for semiconductor wafer fabrication process control and temperature uniformity optimization.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
84 words
A temperature control method for real-time control of a lamp heat source for semiconductor wafer fabrication process control, comprising the steps of: performing multi-point emissivity-compensated temperature measurements of the semiconductor wafer using a multi-point pyrometry with emissivity compensation; measuring surface roughness of the semiconductor wafer using a surface roughness sensor; controlling the heat source using a heat source controller; and associating said temperature measurements with said surface roughness measurements and adjusting said heat source controller in response to said temperature and surface roughness measurements.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
84 words
A temperature control method for real-time control of a lamp heat source for semiconductor wafer fabrication process control, comprising the steps of: performing multi-point emissivity-compensated temperature measurements of the semiconductor wafer using a multi-point pyrometry with emissivity compensation; measuring surface roughness of the semiconductor wafer using a surface roughness sensor; controlling the heat source using a heat source controller; and associating said temperature measurements with said surface roughness measurements and adjusting said heat source controller in response to said temperature and surface roughness measurements.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
110 words
The method of claim 34, wherein said multi-point pyrometer comprises the steps of: emitting a beam of electromagnetic energy; receiving said beam, splitting said beam into a plurality of beams, and directing said beams as incident beams to the surface of the semiconductor wafer; receiving a plurality of reflected beams caused by said incident beams and receiving radiant heat energy from the semiconductor wafer; detecting and processing said incident beams, said reflected beams and said radiant heat energy; converting detections of said incident and reflected beams to values for semiconductor wafer emissivity and said radiant heat detections into semiconductor temperature measurements; and compensating said temperature measurements by said emissivity measurements.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 35, further comprising the steps of receiving a plurality of transmitted beams caused by said incident beams and detecting and processing said transmitted beams.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
17 words
The method of claim 36, wherein said electromagnetic energy beam comprises a beam of infrared electromagnetic energy.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
18 words
The method of claim 37, wherein said infrared electromagnetic energy beam has a wavelength of approximately 5.4 microns.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
15 words
The method of claim 34, wherein said laser generates a chopped beam of electromagnetic energy.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
23 words
The method of claim 39, wherein said chopped beam has a chopping frequency that relates to the rates of temperature and emissivity measurements.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim
45 words
The method of claim 34, further comprising the step of associating said electromagnetic energy beams with a fiber-optic network, said fiber-optic network to receive said beams from said beam splitter and to direct a plurality of said beams as incident beams to the semiconductor wafer.
Claim 44
Dependent Claim
42 words
The method of claim 41, further comprising the step of associating said fiber-optic network to receive each of said incident beams from said fiber-optic network for delivering and collimating said incident beams as said incident beams are directed to said semiconductor wafer.
Claim 45
Dependent Claim
45 words
The method of claim 42, wherein the heat source comprises a lamp module for directing optical energy toward the semiconductor wafer and said fiber-optic bundles mount within said lamp module for directing said incident beams in a direction essentially perpendicular to said semiconductor wafer surface.
Claim 46
Dependent Claim
48 words
The method of claim 35, wherein said beam and radiant heat energy detecting and processing step further comprises the steps of receiving a plurality of independent signals representing said beam and radiant heat measurement in a multiplexer and multiplexing said signals to produce a single time-division-multiplexed output signal.
Claim 47
Dependent Claim
40 words
The method of claim 44, wherein said detecting and processing step further comprises the step of detecting said beam and radiant energy signals and selectively directing individual beam and radiant energy signals within said multiplexer using a chopper wheel assembly.
Claim 48
Dependent Claim
42 words
The method of claim 36, wherein said compensating step further comprises the steps of converting said incident and reflected beam measurements to emissivity values for the semiconductor wafer and converting said radiant heat energy and emissivity measurements into semiconductor wafer temperature measurements.
Claim 49
Dependent Claim
91 words
The method of claim 34, further comprising the steps of: directing a plurality of incident coherent beams of electromagnetic energy to the surface of the semiconductor wafer; collecting a plurality of reflected coherent beams of electromagnetic energy resulting from the reflection of said plurality of incident coherent beams from the semiconductor wafer; collecting radiant heat energy emitted from a plurality of points on a semiconductor wafer; and calculating temperature values for the semiconductor wafer as a function of said plurality of incident reflective coherent beams and said radiant heat energy values.
Claim 50
Dependent Claim
67 words
The method of claim 47, further comprising the step of associating each of said plurality of incident coherent beams with the corresponding reflected coherent beam to yield a beam pair, and further associating each beam pair with the radiant heat energy collected from the point of incidence and reflection from the semiconductor wafer to yield a temperature value for each respective probed point of the semiconductor wafer.
Claim 51
Dependent Claim
59 words
The method in claim 47, wherein the semiconductor wafer resides within the semiconductor wafer fabrication reactor having a lamp module for heating the semiconductor wafer and further comprising the step of operate said incident coherent beam collecting circuitry and said reflected coherent beam and radiant heat energy collecting circuitry in real-time as said lamp module heats the semiconductor wafer.
Claim 52
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 49, wherein said directing and collecting step further comprises the step of collecting said energy along a path approximately perpendicular to the semiconductor wafer.
Claim 53
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method of claim 47, further comprising the step of calculating emissivity of the semiconductor wafer as a function of said incident coherent beam electromagnetic energy and reflected coherent beam electromagnetic energy.
Claim 54
Dependent Claim
46 words
The method of claim 48, wherein the semiconductor wafer resides within a semiconductor wafer fabrication reactor comprising a multi-zone lamp module, said multi- zone lamp module comprising a plurality of independently controllable lamp heating zones, and further comprising the step of uniformly heating the semiconductor wafer.
Claim 55
Dependent Claim
41 words
The method of claim 52, further comprising the step of associating each of said measured point temperature values with at least one of said controllable lamp heating zone and controlling said lamp heating zones in response to said associated temperature values.
Claim 56
Dependent Claim
36 words
The method of claim 53, further comprising the step of calculating the emissivity of each of said incidence and reflection points simultaneous with obtaining the radiance values associated with each of said incidence and reflection points.
Claim 57
Dependent Claim
29 words
The method of claim 34, wherein said surface roughness sensor measures roughness of the semiconductor wafer surface based on coherent reflectance and scatter reflectance of the semiconductor wafer surface.
Claim 58
Dependent Claim
74 words
The method of claim 55, wherein surface roughness measuring step comprises the steps of: directing an incident coherent electromagnetic beam toward the semiconductor wafer; measuring the amount of electromagnetic power coherently reflected from the semiconductor wafer in the specular direction and the amount of electromagnetic power scatter reflected from the semiconductor wafer; and determining semiconductor wafer surface roughness based on the measurements of said coherently reflected beam power and said scatter reflected beam power.
Claim 59
Dependent Claim
55 words
The method of claim 56, further comprising the steps of: measuring the amount of electromagnetic power coherently transmitted through the semiconductor wafer in the specular direction and the amount of electromagnetic power scatter transmitted through the semiconductor wafer; and including said coherently transmitted power and scatter transmitted power to determine said semiconductor wafer surface roughness.
Claim 60
Dependent Claim
16 words
The method of claim 56, wherein said electromagnetic energy source comprises a coherent laser energy source.
Claim 61
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method of claim 58, wherein said coherent laser energy source emits coherent energy in the range of 0.4-15 μm in wavelength.
Claim 62
Dependent Claim
20 words
The method of claim 58, wherein said coherent laser energy source emits coherent energy of approximately 1.55 μm in wavelength.
Claim 63
Dependent Claim
20 words
The method of claim 58, wherein said coherent laser energy source emits coherent energy of approximately 1.3 μm in wavelength.
Claim 64
Dependent Claim
27 words
The method of claim 58, wherein said receiving step further comprises the steps of receiving said coherently reflected electromagnetic power and detecting said scatter reflected electromagnetic power.
Claim 65
Dependent Claim
37 words
The method of claim 34, wherein said associating step further comprises the step of storing a plurality surface roughness values for the semiconductor wafer, said surface roughness values for obtaining semiconductor wafer emissivity during wafer fabrication processing.
Claim 66
Dependent Claim
37 words
The method of claim 34, wherein said associating step further comprises the step of time averaging reflectance and transmittance values of the semiconductor wafer to produce time-averaged reflectance and transmittance values during a semiconductor wafer fabrication process.
Claim 67
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 64, wherein said associating step further comprises the step of using measured semiconductor wafer reflectance and transmittance values to determine semiconductor wafer emissivity values.
Claim 68
Dependent Claim
93 words
The method of claim 65, wherein the heat source comprises a multi-zone lamp module having a plurality of controllable lamp heating zone, said lamp heating zones being associated with a real-time controller for control of said multi-zone lamp, said pyrometry-based temperature sensor further comprising a plurality of sensing points for sensing the semiconductor wafer temperature distribution, said sensing points further associated with said multi-zone lamp and further comprising the step of operating a feedback circuit for real-time precision control of said multi-zone lamp for semiconductor wafer fabrication process control and temperature uniformity optimization.
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