Method and apparatus for controlling etch processes during fabrication of semiconductor devices
AssigneeApplied Materials, Inc.
InventorsDavid S.L. Mui, Wei Liu, Hiroki Sasano
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Abstract
A method for controlling etch processes during fabrication of semiconductor devices comprises tests and measurements performed on non-product and product substrates to define an N-parameter CD control graph that is used to calculate a process time for trimming a patterned mask to a pre-determined width. An apparatus for performing such a method.
Claims18
A method of controlling etch processes during fabrication of semiconductor devices in a semiconductor substrate processing system, comprising:
- (a) defining an N-parameter critical dimension (CD) control graph to calculate a trim condition for trimming features on the substrate to a pre-determined width;
- (b) providing the substrate having a patterned mask;
- (c) trimming the patterned mask for a time calculated using the N-parameter critical dimension (CD) control graph;
- and
- (d) etching an underlying layer on the substrate using the trimmed patterned mask an etch mask.
An apparatus for controlling etch processes during fabrication of semiconductor devices in a semiconductor substrate processing system, comprising:
- (a) a measuring tool for measuring a profile of a feature of a patterned mask and a feature etched in a layer beneath said mask;
- (b) a processor calculating an N-parameter CD control graph defining a trim time for trimming the feature to a pre-determined width;
- (c) an etch reactor performing trimming of said mask;
- and
- (d) an etch reactor performing etching said layer using the trimmed patterned mask as an etch mask.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.