Method and system for adjusting location of a wafer and a top plate in a thin-film deposition process

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2023395361-A1
Application number	US-202318366084-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Aug 7, 2023
Priority date	Mar 19, 2021
Publication date	Dec 7, 2023
Grant date	—

Abstract

A thin-film deposition system includes a top plate positioned above a wafer and configured to generate a plasma during a thin-film deposition process. The system includes a sensor configured to generate sensor signals indicative of a lifetime of a component of the thin-film deposition system, a characteristic of a thin-film deposited by the thin-film deposition system or a characteristic of a process material that flows into the thin-film deposition system. The system includes a control system configured to adjust a relative location of a top plate of the thin-film deposition system with respect to a location of a wafer in the thin-film deposition system during the thin-film deposition process responsive to the sensor signals.

First claim

1 . A thin-film deposition system, comprising:
a thin-film deposition chamber; a wafer support positioned in the thin-film deposition chamber and configured to support a wafer in the thin-film deposition chamber; a top plate positioned above the wafer support and configured to generate a plasma in the thin-film deposition chamber during a thin-film deposition process; a sensor configured to generate sensor signals indicative of a lifetime of a component of the thin-film deposition system, a characteristic of a thin-film deposited by the thin-film deposition system or a characteristic of a process material that flows into the thin-film deposition system during the thin-film deposition process; and a control system configured to receive the sensor signals and to adjust a relative location of the top plate of the thin-film deposition system with respect to a location of the wafer in the thin-film deposition system responsive to the sensor signals.

2 . The thin-film deposition system of claim 1 , wherein the control system is configured to adjust the relative location of the top plate of the thin-film deposition system with respect to the location of the wafer during the thin-film deposition process.

3 . The thin-film deposition system of claim 1 , wherein the sensor is configured to generate a sensor signal indicative of a flow rate of the process material into the thin-film deposition chamber in which the wafer is processed in the thin-film deposition system.

4 . The thin-film deposition system of claim 1 , wherein the sensor is configured to generate a sensor signal indicative of a number of wafers processed by the thin-film deposition system.

5 . The thin-film deposition system of claim 1 , wherein the sensor is configured to generate a sensor signal indicative of a thickness of the thin-film deposited by the thin-film deposition system on the wafer or on a surface of the thin-film deposition chamber.

6 . The thin-film deposition system of claim 5 , further comprising a sensor configured to generate a sensor signal indicative of a zone of the wafer from which the signal indicative of a thickness of the thin-film deposited by the thin-film deposition system on the wafer is generated.

7 . The thin-film deposition system of claim 1 , wherein the control system is configured to receive the sensor signals and adjust a distance between the top plate and the wafer.

8 . The thin-film deposition system of claim 7 , wherein the control system is configured to receive the sensor signals and cause the top plate to move.

9 . The thin-film deposition system of claim 7 , wherein the control system is configured to receive the sensor signals and cause wafer support plate to move.

10 . The thin-film deposition system of claim 7 , wherein control system is configured to cause the wafer support to move in a lateral direction relative to the top plate.

11 . The thin-film deposition system of claim 1 , wherein the thin-film deposition chamber is a chamber configured to carry out a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition process.

12 . A system for carrying out a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition process, comprising:
a processing chamber for carrying out a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition process; a wafer support positioned in the processing chamber and configured to support a wafer in the processing chamber; a top plate positioned above the wafer support and configured to generate a plasma in the processing chamber during a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition process; a sensor configured to generate sensor signals indicative of a lifetime of a component of the plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition system, a characteristic of a thin-film deposited by the plasma enhance chemical vapor deposition system or a characteristic of a process material that flows into the plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition system during the plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition process; and a control system configured to receive the sensor signals, compare the received sensor signals to reference data and to adjust a relative location of the top plate of the plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition system with respect to a location of the wafer in the plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition system responsive to the sensor signals.

13 . The system for carrying out a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition process of claim 12 , wherein the control system is further configured to:
train an analysis model of the control system with a machine learning process; analyze the received sensor signals with the analysis model; determine, with the analysis model, an adjustment to be made to a gap between the wafer support and the top plate based on the sensor signals; and adjusting a size of the gap based on the determined adjustment.

14 . The system for carrying out a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition process of claim 12 , further comprising a gap sensor configured to determine the magnitude or relative size of a gap between the top plate and an upper surface of a wafer supported by the wafer support plate or an upper surface of a film on the wafer supported by the wafer support plate.

15 . The system for carrying out a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition process of claim 14 , wherein the gap sensor includes a radiation emitter configured to emit electromagnetic radiation into the gap and a radiation sensor configured to sense the emitted electromagnetic radiation exiting the gap.

16 . The system for carrying out a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition process of claim 14 , wherein the gap sensor includes an image capture device configured to capture an image of the gap.

17 . A thin-film deposition system, comprising:
a thin-film deposition chamber; a wafer support positioned in the thin-film deposition chamber and configured to support a wafer in the thin-film deposition chamber; a top plate positioned above the wafer support and configured to generate a plasma in the thin-film deposition chamber during a thin-film deposition process; a sensor configured to generate sensor signals indicative of a lifetime of a component of the thin-film deposition system, a characteristic of a thin-film deposited by the thin-film deposition system or a characteristic of a process material that flows into the thin-film deposition system during the thin-film deposition process; a gap sensor configured to determine the magnitude or relative size of a gap between the top plate and an upper surface of a wafer supported by the wafer support plate or an upper surface of a film on the wafer supported by the wafer support plate, the gap sensor located external to the thin film deposition chamber; a control system configured to receive the sensor signals and to adjust a relative location of the top plate of the thin-film deposition system with respect to a location of the wafer responsive to the sensor signals.

18 . The thin-film deposition system of claim 17 , wherein the gap sensor includes a radiation emitter configured to emit electromagnetic radiation and the thin-film deposition chamber further includes an aperture in a wall of the thin-film deposition chamber through which electromagnetic radiation emitted from the radiation emitter passes.

19 . The thin-film deposition system of claim 18 , wherein the gap sensor further includes a radiation sensor configured to sense electromagnetic radiation emitted by the radiation emitter and the thin film deposition chamber further includes an aperture in a wall of the thin-film d

Assignees

• Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg Co Ltd

Inventors

• Cheng Yu-Hsiang
• Wu Che-Wei

Classifications

• C23C16/50

  using electric discharges {(generation and control of plasma in discharge tubes for surface treatment H01J37/32, H01J37/34)} · CPC title

• H01J37/32935

  Monitoring and controlling tubes by information coming from the object and/or discharge · CPC title

• H01J37/32926 Primary

  Software, data control or modelling · CPC title

• C23C16/52

  Controlling or regulating the coating process {(C23C16/45557, C23C16/279 take precedence)} · CPC title

• H01J37/32981 Primary

  Gas analysis · CPC title