Apparatus, method, and recording medium storing command for controlling thin-film deposition process

An apparatus for controlling a substrate heater, a shutter, and a source heater to perform a target thin-film deposition process for depositing a target thin film on a target substrate, wherein the substrate heater adjusts a temperature of the target substrate, the shutter opens or closes a hole through which a source for the target thin film is emitted into a process chamber, and the source heater heats the source,

• the apparatus comprising:
• an electron gun configured to irradiate an electron beam to the target thin film being deposited on the target substrate during the target thin-film deposition process;
• an electron diffraction measurement device configured to generate a first thin-film measurement result that is a diffraction pattern image of a diffraction pattern by measuring the diffraction pattern formed as the electron beam is reflected from the target thin film being deposited;
• a combination of a substrate temperature sensor, a flow rate sensor, and a source temperature sensor, configured to generate first sensing data during the target thin-film deposition process, wherein the first sensing data includes the temperature of the target substrate measured by the substrate temperature sensor, an amount of the source emitted by an operation of the shutter measured by the flow rate sensor, and a temperature of the source measured by the source temperature sensor;
• a communication interface configured to communicate with the substrate heater, the shutter, and the source heater;
• one or more memories configured to store a first correlation model and a recipe for performing the target thin-film deposition process according to predetermined first process condition data that indicates process conditions for the substrate heater, the shutter, and the source heater, wherein the first correlation model is learned according to a first machine learning algorithm using multiple first data sets, the multiple first data sets are collected from multiple thin-film deposition processes for other substrates, and each of the multiple first data sets includes second process condition data, second sensing data, second in-process thin-film state data and second post-process thin-film state data of a thin-film deposition process for a substrate, such that the first correlation model learns a mapping between (1) the second process condition data, the second sensing data, and the second in-process thin-film state data, and (2) the second post-process thin-film state data;
• and
• one or more processors configured to:
• control the substrate heater, the shutter, and the source heater to perform the target thin-film deposition process by executing the recipe;
• pre-process the first thin-film measurement result to output first pre-processed measurement data including a pattern type of the diffraction pattern, a pattern interval of the diffraction pattern, and an intensity of the electron beam reflected from the target thin film being deposited;
• obtain first in-process thin-film state data, which indicates a state of the target thin film during the target thin-film deposition process, based on both the first thin-film measurement result and the first pre-processed measurement data;
• derive first post-process thin-film state data, which indicates a predicted state of the target thin film after the target thin-film deposition process, from the first process condition data, the first sensing data, and the first in-process thin-film state data using the first correlation model;
• derive new process condition data for the target thin-film deposition process that is configured to make the first post-process thin-film state data of the target thin film have a desired value, from the first process condition data, the first sensing data, and the first in-process thin-film state data using the first correlation model;
• and
• control the substrate heater, the shutter, and the source heater based on the new process condition data to deposit the target thin film on the target substrate,
• wherein the state of the target thin film during or after the target thin-film deposition process includes a surface structure, a crystal structure, an atomic composition, stress, and a deposition rate of the target thin film during or after the target thin-film deposition process, respectively.