Semiconductor manufacturing apparatus with improved production yield

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2024384404-A1
Application number	US-202418789566-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jul 30, 2024
Priority date	Apr 16, 2021
Publication date	Nov 21, 2024
Grant date	—

Abstract

The present disclosure describes a semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus and a method for handling contamination in the semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus. The semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus can include a deposition apparatus and a processor. The deposition apparatus can include a chamber, a detection module configured to detect impurities in the chamber, and a gas scrubbing device configured to remove the impurities. The processor can be configured to receive, from the detection module, an impurity characteristic associated with the impurities; compare the impurity characteristic to a baseline characteristic; and instruct the gas scrubbing device to supply a decontamination gas in the chamber based on the comparison of the impurity characteristic to the baseline characteristic.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method, comprising:
conducting a deposition process, via a deposition apparatus, to deposit a film of a material; determining a contamination characteristic associated with a residue of the material on the deposition apparatus; comparing the contamination characteristic to a baseline characteristic; and based on the comparison, conducting a decontamination process to remove the residue of the material on the deposition apparatus.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein conducting the deposition process comprises depositing a metallic material.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the contamination characteristic comprises collecting a visual signature of the residue of the material on the deposition apparatus.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the contamination characteristic comprises measuring one or more temperatures of a thermal distributor of the deposition apparatus.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein comparing the contamination characteristic comprises:
calculating an average of the one or more temperatures; and calculating a difference between a pre-determined temperature threshold and the average of the one or more temperatures.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein conducting the decontamination process comprises:
determining a flow time of a decontamination gas based on the comparison; and supplying the decontamination gas, for a period of the flow time, to the deposition apparatus.

7 . A method, comprising:
placing a substrate on a chuck in a deposition chamber; depositing a layer of a material on the substrate; determining a contamination level of a residue of the material on a thermal distributor under the chuck, wherein the residue is accumulated due to depositing the layer of the material; and performing, based on the contamination level, a decontamination process to remove the residue of the material.

8 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising reflecting a thermal radiation by the thermal distributor to enhance a temperature uniformity of the substrate.

9 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising comparing the contamination level to a baseline level.

10 . The method of claim 7 , wherein determining the contamination level comprises:
determining a volume of a processing gas provided to deposit the layer of the material; and determining a sticking coefficient of the processing gas by measuring a temperature of the thermal distributor.

11 . The method of claim 7 , wherein determining the contamination level comprises collecting a visual signature of a surface of the thermal distributor.

12 . The method of claim 7 , wherein determining the contamination level comprises:
emitting a first optical signal towards the thermal distributor; and receiving a second optical signal reflected by the thermal distributor.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein determining the contamination level further comprises determining, based on a phase difference or an intensity difference of the first and second optical signals, a surface coverage or a thickness of the residue on the thermal distributor.

14 . The method of claim 7 , wherein performing the decontamination process comprises:
in response to a temperature of the thermal distributor being outside a range between about 250° C. and about 650° C., performing the decontamination process.

15 . A method, comprising:
placing a substrate in a deposition chamber; depositing a film of a material on the substrate; determining a contamination level of a residue of the material on a thermal distributor under the substrate, wherein the thermal distributor is configured to enhance a temperature uniformity of the substrate; and performing, based on the contamination level, a cleaning process on a surface of the thermal distributor to remove the residue of the material.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein performing the cleaning process comprises providing a decontamination gas to the surface of the thermal distributor.

17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein providing the decontamination gas comprises:
in response to the material comprising tungsten, providing the decontamination gas comprising nitrogen trifluoride; and in response to the material comprising germanium, providing the decontamination gas comprising hydrogen chloride.

18 . The method of claim 16 , wherein providing the decontamination gas comprises providing the decontamination gas by a gas scrubbing device adjacent to the thermal distributor.

19 . The method of claim 16 , wherein providing the decontamination gas comprises providing a radical to enhance a removal of the residue from the surface of the thermal distributor.

20 . The method of claim 15 , wherein determining the contamination level comprises:
determining volumes of processing gases used to deposit the film; determining sticking coefficients of the processing gases; and determining a cumulative sum o products of the volumes and the sticking coefficients. wherein the contamination level is proportional to the cumulative sum.

Assignees

• Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg Co Ltd

Inventors

• Xu jia-wei
• Liu Ding-I
• Hsu Kai-Shiung
• Tseng Yin-Bin

Classifications

• H10P14/40

  of conductive or resistive materials · CPC title

• H10P72/04 Primary

  Apparatus for manufacture or treatment · CPC title

• H01J37/32981

  Gas analysis · CPC title

• H01J37/32935

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

• B08B13/00

  Accessories or details of general applicability for machines or apparatus for cleaning · CPC title