System and method for thermally calibrating semiconductor process chambers

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10732046-B2
Application number	US-201816126863-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 10, 2018
Priority date	Sep 10, 2018
Publication date	Aug 4, 2020
Grant date	Aug 4, 2020

Abstract

A system and method for thermally calibrating semiconductor process chambers is disclosed. In various embodiments, a first non-contact temperature sensor can be calibrated to obtain a first reading with the semiconductor process chamber. The first reading can be representative of a first temperature at a first location. The first non-contact temperature sensor can be used to obtain a second reading representative of a second temperature of an external thermal radiation source. The second temperature of the external thermal radiation source can be adjusted to a first temperature setting of the external radiation source such that the second reading substantially matches the first reading. Additional non-contact temperature sensor(s) can be directed at the external thermal radiation source and can be adjusted such that the reading(s) of the additional non-contact sensors are calibrated and matched to one another.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for thermally calibrating a semiconductor process chamber of a semiconductor process apparatus, the method comprising:
calibrating a first non-contact temperature sensor to obtain a first reading with the semiconductor process chamber, the first reading representative of a first temperature;
using the first non-contact temperature sensor to obtain a second reading representative of a second temperature of an external thermal radiation source at a first temperature setting; and
adjusting the second temperature of the external thermal radiation source to a second temperature setting of the external radiation source such that the second reading substantially matches the first reading.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first reading of the first non-contact temperature sensor is representative of the first temperature of a portion of the semiconductor process apparatus or of a wafer within the semiconductor process chamber.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising calibrating a second non-contact temperature sensor with the external thermal radiation source at the second temperature setting.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein calibrating the second non-contact temperature sensor comprises using the second non-contact temperature sensor to obtain a third reading representative of the second temperature of the external thermal radiation source.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein calibrating the second non-contact temperature sensor comprises adjusting a sensor factor (SF) of the second non-contact temperature sensor such that the third reading substantially matches the first reading.

6. The method of claim 3 , wherein the first and second non-contact temperature sensors comprise optical pyrometers.

7. The method of claim 3 , further comprising installing the second non-contact temperature sensor in or on the semiconductor process chamber or another process chamber to measure the first temperature during operation of the semiconductor process chamber.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising installing the second non-contact sensor such that the second non-contact sensor has a line of sight to the wafer during operation of the semiconductor process chamber, the first reading representative of the first temperature at a location on the wafer.

9. The method of claim 7 , further comprising installing the second non-contact sensor such that the second non-contact sensor has a line of sight to a susceptor upon which the wafer is mounted during operation of the semiconductor process chamber, the first reading representative of the first temperature at a location on the wafer.

10. The method of claim 7 , further comprising installing the second non-contact sensor such that the second non-contact sensor has a line of sight to a wall of the semiconductor process chamber during operation of the semiconductor process chamber, the first reading representative of the first temperature at a location on the wall of the semiconductor process chamber.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the wall comprises quartz.

12. The method of claim 7 , further comprising monitoring the first temperature during operation of the semiconductor process chamber.

13. The method of claim 7 , further comprising at least partially controlling the first temperature based on a feedback signal indicative of one or more readings of the second non-contact temperature signal.

14. The method of claim 3 , further comprising calibrating third, fourth, and fifth non-contact temperature sensors with the external thermal radiation source at the second temperature setting.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein calibrating the first non-contact temperature sensor comprises comparing one or more readings of the first non-contact temperature sensor to one or more readings of a contact temperature sensor that measures the first temperature of the portion of the semiconductor process apparatus or of the wafer itself.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the contact temperature sensor comprises a thermocouple.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the first non-contact temperature sensor is configured to monitor the first temperature during operation of the semiconductor process chamber and the contact temperature sensor is configured to control the first temperature during operation of the semiconductor process chamber.

18. The method of claim 15 , wherein the contact temperature sensor is configured to monitor the first temperature during operation of the semiconductor process chamber and the first non-contact temperature sensor is configured to control the first temperature during operation of the semiconductor process chamber.

19. The method of claim 15 , wherein the contact temperature sensor and the first non-contact sensor are configured to monitor the first temperature during operation of the semiconductor process chamber.

20. The method of claim 15 , wherein the contact temperature sensor and the first non-contact sensor are configured to control the first temperature during operation of the semiconductor process chamber.

21. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
adjusting an applied temperature of the semiconductor process chamber;
calibrating the first non-contact temperature sensor to obtain a fourth reading with the semiconductor process chamber at the adjusted applied temperature, the fourth reading representative of the first temperature taken at the adjusted temperature of the semiconductor process chamber;
using the first non-contact temperature sensor to obtain a fifth reading representative of the second temperature of an external thermal radiation source; and
adjusting the second temperature of the external thermal radiation source to a third temperature setting of the external radiation source such that the fifth reading substantially matches the fourth reading.

22. The method of claim 1 , wherein the external thermal radiation source comprises a blackbody calibration furnace.

23. A system for thermally calibrating a semiconductor process chamber, the system comprising:
a first non-contact temperature sensor calibrated to have a first reading representative of a first temperature;
a blackbody calibration furnace having an aperture and a heater with a plurality of temperature settings, the first non-contact temperature sensor configured to obtain, through the aperture, a second reading representative of a second temperature of the blackbody calibration furnace, the blackbody calibration furnace configured to substantially match the second reading to the first reading when the blackbody calibration furnace is placed at a first temperature setting of the plurality of temperature settings.

24. The system of claim 23 , further comprising a stage configured to support the first non-contact temperature sensor and to align the first non-contact temperature sensor with the aperture.

25. The system of claim 23 , wherein the first non-contact temperature sensor comprises a pyrometer.

Assignees

• Asm Ip Holding Bv

Inventors

• Leow Yen Lin
• Miskin Caleb Koy
• Kim Hyeongeu

Classifications

• H10P74/23

  characterised by multiple measurements, corrections, marking or sorting processes · CPC title

• H10P72/0602 Primary

  Temperature monitoring · CPC title

• H10P72/0436 Primary

  mainly by radiation · CPC title

• H10P74/203

  Structural properties, e.g. testing or measuring thicknesses, line widths, warpage, bond strengths or physical defects · CPC title

• G01J5/00 Primary

  Radiation pyrometry, e.g. infrared or optical thermometry · CPC title