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US 12,009,221 B2Granted
Performing planarization process controls in semiconductor fabrication
AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
InventorsChunhung Chen, Sheng-Chen Wang, Chin Wei Chuang
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Abstract
A planarization process is performed to a wafer. In various embodiments, the planarization process may include a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process. A byproduct generated by the planarization process is collected and analyzed. Based on the analysis, one or more process controls are performed for the planarization process. In some embodiments, the process controls include but are not limited to process endpoint detection or halting the planarization process based on detecting an error associated with the planarization process.
Claims20
A system, comprising:
- a chemical-mechanical-polishing (CMP) tool configured to polish a wafer, wherein a polishing of the wafer generates byproducts;
- a byproduct-collection tool configured to collect at least some of the byproducts generated during the polishing of the wafer;
- a sensor, an analyzer, and first computer configured to analyze the collected byproducts, wherein an analysis of the collected byproducts indicates:
- a presence of an unexpected atomic element that corresponds to a contaminant material in the collected byproducts;
- or
- an unexpected chronological sequence in which a plurality of atomic elements in the collected byproducts appear;
- and
- an industrial-grade computer configured to instruct the CMP tool to adjust the polishing of the wafer based on the analysis of the collected byproducts indicating an error that includes a contamination of the CMP tool, an over-polishing of the wafer, or an under-polishing of the wafer.
5 more elements
A system, comprising:
- a first tool configured to perform a chemical-mechanical-polishing (CMP) process to a wafer, wherein the first tool includes a polishing component and a cleaning component, and wherein the polishing component generates a polishing byproduct during the CMP process, and wherein the cleaning component generates a cleaning byproduct during the CMP process;
- a second tool configured to capture samples of the polishing byproduct and the cleaning byproduct;
- a third tool configured to shoot rays or waves to the captured samples and produce an analysis of a material composition of the captured samples based on a response of the captured samples to the rays or waves, wherein the analysis indicates:
- a presence of an unexpected atomic element that corresponds to a contaminant material in the captured samples;
- or
- an incorrect chronological sequence of a plurality of a plurality of different atomic elements in the captured samples;
- and
- a fourth tool configured to determine a process condition of the CMP process based on the analysis, wherein the process condition includes a presence of a contaminant in the first tool, an over-polishing of the wafer, or an under-polishing of the wafer.
5 more elements
A system, comprising:
- a planarization tool configured to perform a planarization process to a wafer;
- a byproduct-capture tool configured to capture samples of a byproduct generated as a part of the planarization process;
- an e-sensor tool configured to analyze a content of the samples of the byproduct captured by the byproduct-capture tool, wherein the e-sensor tool is configured to detect, based on the content of the samples, a presence of a contaminant material in the samples or an incorrect chronological sequence in which each metallic atomic element of a plurality of metallic atomic elements appears in the samples;
- and
- one or more computers configured to perform one or more process controls for the planarization process based on an analysis produced by the e-sensor tool regarding the presence of the contaminant material or the incorrect chronological sequence, wherein the analysis indicates a condition that includes:
- a contamination of the planarization tool, or that the wafer has been planarized too much or not enough.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.