# US 12,014,910 B2 · Method and system for adjusting location of a wafer and a top plate in a thin-film deposition process > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,014,910 B2 - Document ID: US12014910B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/494,553 - Filed: 2021-10-05 - Published: 2023-04-06 - Granted: 2024-06-18 - Earliest claimed: 2021-03-19 - Assignees: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd. - Applicants: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. - Inventors: Yu-Hsiang Cheng; Che-Wei Wu - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12014910B2 ## CPC - H01J 37/32926: {Software, data control or modelling} - C23C 16/50: using electric discharges {(generation and control of plasma in discharge tubes for surface treatment H01J37/32, H01J37/34)} - C23C 16/5096: {Flat-bed apparatus} - C23C 16/52: Controlling or regulating the coating process {(C23C16/45557, C23C16/279 take precedence)} - H01J 37/32733: {Means for moving the material to be treated} - H01J 37/32935: {Monitoring and controlling tubes by information coming from the object and/or discharge} - H01J 37/32981: {Gas analysis} - H01J 2237/3321: CVD [Chemical Vapor Deposition] - H01J: ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS (spark-gaps H01T; electric arc lamps H05B31/00; particle accelerators H05H) - C23C: COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; SURFACE TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL BY DIFFUSION INTO THE SURFACE, BY CHEMICAL CONVERSION OR SUBSTITUTION; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL (making metal-coated products by extrusion B21C23/22; covering with metal by connecting pre-existing layers to articles, see the relevant places, e.g. B21D39/00, B23K; metallising of glass C03C; metallising mortars, concrete, artificial stone, ceramics or natural stone C04B41/00; enamelling of, or applying a vitreous layer to, metals C23D; treating metal surfaces or coating of metals by electrolysis or electrophoresis C25D; single-crystal film growth C30B; by metallising textiles D06M11/83; decorating textiles by locally metallising D06Q1/04) ## 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. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method comprising: performing, with a thin-film deposition system, a thin-film deposition process on a wafer; generating, with a top plate positioned above the wafer, a plasma during the thin film deposition process; generating, with a first sensor, a first sensor signal indicative of a lifetime of a component of the thin-film deposition system or a characteristic of a thin-film deposited by the thin-film deposition system; generating, with a through beam laser sensor during the thin-film deposition process, a second sensor signal indicative of a distance D between a bottom surface of the top plate and a top surface of the wafer, the generating the second sensor signal indicative of the distance D between the bottom surface of the top plate and the top surface of the wafer including emitting a radiation beam from a radiation emitter, the radiation beam emitted from the radiation emitter having a diameter greater than the distance D between a top surface of the wafer and a bottom surface of the top plate, passing a portion of the radiation beam between the bottom surface of the top plate and the top surface of the wafer and receiving at a radiation sensor the portion of the radiation beam emitted from the radiation emitter that has passed between the bottom surface of the top plate and the top surface of the wafer; and adjusting a relative location of a top plate of the thin-film deposition system with respect to a location of the wafer in the thin-film deposition system in response to the second sensor signal during the thin-film deposition process. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the first sensor is a counter configured to generate a first sensor signal indicative of a number of wafers processed by the thin-film deposition system. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the first sensor is configured to generate a first 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 a chamber in which the thin-film deposition process on the wafer is performed. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The method of claim 3, wherein the first sensor is configured to generate a first sensor signal indicative of a zone of the wafer from which the first signal indicative of the thickness of the thin-film deposited by the thin-film deposition system on the wafer is generated. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: training an analysis model of a control system with a machine learning process; analyzing the second sensor signal with the analysis model; determining, with the analysis model, an adjustment to be made to the distance D between the bottom surface of the top plate and the top surface of the wafer based on the analyzed second sensor signal; and adjusting the relative location of the top plate of the thin-film deposition system with respect to the location of the wafer in the thin-film deposition system with the control system based on the analysis model. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the adjusting includes adjusting a distance between the top plate and the wafer. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The method of claim 6, wherein the adjusting includes moving the top plate. ### Claim 8 (depends on 6) The method of claim 6, wherein the adjusting includes moving the wafer. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8, further comprising: passing the second sensor signal to a control system; determining, with the control system, an adjustment to be made to the distance D between the bottom surface of the top plate and the top surface of the wafer based on the second sensor signal; and adjusting the distance D by moving the top plate, moving the wafer or moving both in accordance with the determined adjustment. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the generating, with the through beam laser sensor during the thin film deposition process, the second sensor signal indicative of a distance D between the bottom surface of the top plate and the top surface of the wafer includes blocking a portion of the radiation beam by a side of the top plate and a side of the wafer. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the adjusting the relative location of the top plate of the thin-film deposition system with respect to the location of the wafer includes moving the wafer in a lateral direction relative to the top plate. ### Claim 12 A method, comprising: performing a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition process on a wafer in a thin-film deposition chamber; generating, with a top plate positioned above the wafer, a plasma during the plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition process; generating, with a through beam laser sensor during the plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition process, a second sensor signal indicative of a distance D between a bottom surface of the top plate and a top surface of the wafer, the generating the seconda sensor signal indicative of the distance D between the bottom surface of the top plate and the top surface of the wafer including emitting a radiation beam from a radiation emitter, blocking a portion of the radiation beam with the top plate and with the wafer, passing a portion of the radiation beam not blocked by the top plate and the wafer between the bottom surface of the top plate and the top surface of the wafer and receiving at a radiation sensor the portion of the radiation passing between the bottom surface of the top plate and the top surface of the wafer, the radiation beam emitted from the radiation emitter having a diameter greater than the distance D between the top surface of the wafer and the bottom surface of the top plate; analyzing, with a control system during the plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition process, the second sensor signal; and adjusting a location of the top plate of the thin-film deposition system relative to a location of the wafer in the thin-film deposition system with the control system during the plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition process based on the second sensor signal. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, wherein analyzing the second sensor signal includes comparing the second sensor signal to reference data. ### Claim 14 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, further comprising: training an analysis model of the control system with a machine learning process; analyzing the second sensor signal with the analysis model; determining, with the analysis model, an adjustment to be made to a gap the distance D between bottom surface of the top plate and the top surface of the wafer based on the second sensor signal; and adjusting the relative location of the top plate of the thin-film deposition system with respect to the location of the wafer in the thin-film deposition system with the control system based on the analysis model. ### Claim 15 A method, comprising: performing a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition process on a wafer in a deposition chamber; generating, with a top plate positioned above the wafer, a plasma during the plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition process; generating, with a first sensor during the plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition process, a first sensor signal indicative of a lifetime of a component of the thin-film deposition system, a characteristic of a thin-film deposited by a thin-film deposition system or a characteristic of a process material that flows into the thin-film deposition system; generating, with a through beam laser sensor during the plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition process, a second sensor signal indicative of a distance D between a bottom surface of the top plate and a top surface of the wafer, the generating the second sensor signal indicative of the distance D between the bottom surface of the top plate and the top surface of the wafer including emitting a radiation beam from a radiation emitter, passing a portion of the radiation beam between the bottom surface of the top plate and the top surface of the wafer and receiving at a radiation sensor the portion of the radiation beam passed between the bottom surface of the top plate and the top surface of the wafer, the radiation beam emitted from the radiation emitter having a diameter greater than the distance D between a top surface of the wafer and a bottom surface of the top plate; analyzing, with a control system during the plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition process, the first sensor signal and the second sensor signal indicative of the distance D; and adjusting a location of the top plate of the thin-film deposition system relative to a location of the wafer in the thin-film deposition system with the control system during the plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition process based on the first sensor signal and the second sensor signal indicative of the distance D. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The method of claim 15, wherein the generating, with the through beam sensor during the plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition process, the second sensor signal indicative of the distance D between the bottom surface of the top plate and the top surface of the wafer includes blocking a portion of the radiation beam by a side of the top plate and a side of the wafer. ### Claim 17 (depends on 15) The method of claim 15, adjusting a location of the top plate of the thin-film deposition system relative to a location of the wafer includes moving the top plate laterally or moving the wafer laterally. ### Claim 18 (depends on 15) The method of claim 15, wherein the first sensor signal is indicative of a thickness of the thin-film deposited by the thin-film deposition system on the wafer or on a surface of a chamber in which the thin-film deposition process on the wafer is performed. ### Claim 19 (depends on 15) The method of claim 15, wherein the first sensor signal is indicative of the thickness of the thin-film deposited by the thin-film deposition system on a specific zone of the wafer. ### Claim 20 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, wherein the adjusting includes moving both the top plate and the wafer.