In-situ etch rate and etch rate uniformity detection system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12489022-B2
Application number	US-202117398820-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 10, 2021
Priority date	Aug 12, 2020
Publication date	Dec 2, 2025
Grant date	Dec 2, 2025

Abstract

An article, apparatus, and method for detecting an etch rate uniformity in a processing chamber of an electronics processing system is provided. A device is placed in a processing chamber of an electronics processing system. The device includes a first layer deposited on a surface of the device and a second layer deposited on the first layer. The first layer is composed of a first sense material and the second layer is composed of an etch material. During an etch process at the processing chamber, a first amount of time from an initiation of the etch process to a detection of a first indication of completion of etching of the second layer at a first portion of the surface of the device is measured. The etch process etches the second layer of the device based on an initial set of etch parameter settings. A first etch rate of the processing chamber is determined based on the measured first amount of time and a thickness of the second layer. An optimized set of etch parameter settings to be applied at the processing chamber during subsequent etch processes is determined based on the first etch rate of the processing chamber.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method comprising:
causing a device to be placed in a processing chamber of an electronics processing system, wherein the device comprises a first layer deposited on a surface of the device, and a second layer deposited on the first layer, wherein the first layer comprises:
a first sense material selected from a first group of materials that, when in a plasma form, have a first optical signature within a first range of optical signatures, and
a second sense material selected from a second group of materials that, when in the plasma form, have a second optical signature within a second range of optical signatures that is distinct from the first range of optical signatures,
wherein the first sense material is located at a first region of the surface of the device and the second sense material is located at a second region of the surface of the device, and wherein the first region of the surface of the device and the second region of the surface of the device are separated by a third region of the surface of the device that does not include the first sense material or the second sense material,
and wherein the second layer is deposited at the first region, the second region, and the third region, and comprises an etch material selected from a third group of materials that, when in the plasma form, have a third optical signature within a third range of optical signatures that is distinct from the first range of optical signatures and the second range of optical signatures;
measuring, during an etch process at the processing chamber, a first amount of time from an initiation of the etch process to a detection of a first indication of completion of etching of the second layer at a first portion of the surface of the device, wherein the etch process etches the second layer of the device based on an initial set of etch parameter settings; determining, based on the measured first amount of time and a thickness of the second layer, a first etch rate of the processing chamber; and determining, based on the first etch rate of the processing chamber, an optimized set of etch parameter settings to be applied at the processing chamber during subsequent etch processes.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the indication of completion of etching of the second layer comprises a first optical signature within the first range of optical signatures, wherein the first optical signature is detected by an optical detection component of the processing chamber.

3 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
measuring, during the etch process, a second amount of time from the detection of the first indication to a detection of a second indication that the first optical signature satisfies an optical threshold criterion; and determining, based on the measured second amount of time, that an overall etch rate of the processing chamber is not uniform across the surface of the device, wherein the optimized set of etch parameter settings is determined to cause the overall etch rate of the processing chamber to be uniform across the surface of the device.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
measuring, during the etch process, a second amount of time from the initiation of the etch process to a detection of a second indication of completion of etching of the second layer at the second region of the surface of the device; determining, based on the measured second amount of time and the thickness of the second layer, a second etch rate of the processing chamber; and determining, based on a difference between the first etch rate and the second etch rate, that an overall etch rate of the processing chamber is not uniform across the surface of the device, wherein the optimized set of etch parameter settings is determined to cause the overall etch rate of the processing chamber to be uniform across the surface of the device.

5 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the first optical signature corresponds to a wavelength of a plurality of photons emitted by a plasma of the first sense material.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first sense material comprises at least one of a silicon-based material, a copper-based material, or a tungsten-based material.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the device further comprises a mask positioned on the second layer, wherein the mask defines one or more features to be etched onto the surface of the device.

8 . An article comprising:
a device; a first layer deposited on a surface of the device, the first layer comprising:
a first sense material selected from a first group of materials that, when in a plasma form, have a first optical signature within a first range of optical signatures, and
a second sense material selected from a second group of materials that, when in the plasma form, have a second optical signature within a second range of optical signatures that is distinct from the first range of optical signatures,
wherein the first sense material is located at a first region of the surface of the device and the second sense material is located at a second region of the surface of the device, and wherein the first region of the surface and the second region of the surface of the device are separated by a third region of the surface of the device that does not include the first sense material or the second sense material; and
a second layer deposited on the first layer at the first region, the second region, and the third region, the second layer comprising an etch material selected from a third group of materials that, when in the plasma form, have a third optical signature within a third range of optical signatures that is distinct from the first range of optical signatures and the second range of optical signatures.

9 . The article of claim 8 , wherein the first sense material is associated with a first optical signature within the first range of optical signatures, and wherein the first optical signature of the first sense material can be detected at the first region of the surface of the device by an optical detection component of a processing chamber.

10 . The article of claim 9 , wherein the first optical signature corresponds to a wavelength of a plurality of photons emitted by a plasma of the first sense material.

11 . The article of claim 8 , wherein the first sense material comprises at least one of a silicon-based material, a copper-based material, or a tungsten-based material.

12 . The article of claim 8 , wherein the device further comprises a mask positioned on the second layer, wherein the mask defines one or more features to be etched onto the surface of the device.

13 . The article of claim 8 , wherein a maximum amplitude of each optical signature of the first range of optical signatures is higher than a maximum amplitude of each optical signature of the third range of optical signatures.

14 . The article of claim 8 , wherein the first sense material comprises a material that emits photons having a wavelength between 200 nanometers (nm) and 1100 nm.

15 . The article of claim 8 , wherein the first region of the surface of the device comprises an outer diameter of the device and the second region of the surface of the device comprises at least one of an inner diameter of the device or a center of the device.

16 . The article of claim 8 , wherein a distance between the first range of optical signatures and the third range of optical signatures satisfies one or more optical signature detectability criteria associated with an optical sensor of a processing chamber of an electronics processing system

Assignees

• Applied Materials Inc

Inventors

• Berding Keith
• Erickson Blake
• Barman Soumendra
• Zhu Zhaozhao

Classifications

• H10P50/71

  using masks for conductive or resistive materials · CPC title

• H10P74/238 Primary

  comprising acting in response to an ongoing measurement without interruption of processing, e.g. endpoint detection or in-situ thickness measurement · CPC title

• H01J37/32899

  Multiple chambers, e.g. cluster tools · CPC title

• H01J37/32917

  Plasma diagnostics · CPC title

• H01J37/32963 Primary

  End-point detection · CPC title