Substrate processing with reduced warpage and/or controlled strain
AssigneeUltratech, Inc.
InventorsYun Wang, Shaoyin Chen
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Provided are systems and methods for processing the surface of substrates that scan a laser beam at one or more selected orientation angles. The orientation angle or angles may be selected to reduce substrate warpage. When the substrates are semiconductor wafers having microelectronic devices, the orientation angles may be selected to produce controlled strain and to improve electronic performance of the devices.
Claims32
A system for processing a surface of a substrate to produce a device, comprising:
- a radiation source adapted to emit a photonic beam suitable for processing the substrate surface;
- a stage adapted to support and move the substrate translationally relative to the beam;
- an alignment system to position the substrate on the stage at a selected orientation angle relative to a surface normal of the stage;
- and
- a controller operably coupled to the radiation source, the stage, and the alignment system, wherein the controller is adapted to provide a first relative scanning motion between the stage and the beam to allow the beam to scan translationally over substantially the entire surface of the substrate along a first path at a first orientation angle followed by a second relative scanning motion between the stage and the beam to allow the beam to scan translationally over at least a portion of the surface of the substrate along a second path at a second orientation angle with said first and second orientation angles each selected to optimize performance characteristics of said device.
A method for processing a surface of a substrate, comprising:
- (a) generating a photonic beam suitable for processing the substrate surface;
- (b) scanning the beam translationally over the substrate surface along a first path at a first orientation angle;
- and
- (c) scanning the beam translationally over the substrate surface along a second path at a second orientation angle.
A method for processing a substrate to produce a desired substrate surface contour, comprising:
- (a) providing a substrate having a surface having an initial surface contour profile;
- (b) generating a photonic beam suitable for processing the substrate surface;
- (c) scanning the beam translationally over the substrate surface along a first path at a first orientation angle, thereby converting the initial surface contour into intermediate surface contour;
- and
- (d) scanning the beam translationally over the substrate surface along a second path at a second orientation angle, thereby converting the intermediate surface contour into the desired surface contour.
A method for reshaping a substrate having a surface with a contour unsuitable for subsequent processing, comprising:
- (a) generating a photonic beam suitable for thermally processing the substrate surface;
- and
- (b) scanning the beam translationally over the substrate surface along a selected path and a selected orientation angle to reshape the surface in a manner effective to convert the unsuitable surface contour into a contour suitable for subsequent processing.
A method for thermally processing a semiconductor substrate having a microelectronic circuit on a surface thereof, comprising:
- (a) generating a photonic beam suitable for producing an elongate image suitable for thermally processing the substrate surface;
- and
- (b) scanning the image translationally over the substrate surface at an orientation angle effective to produce a surface strain in a manner the enhances carrier mobility in the microelectronic circuit relative to carrier mobility of the circuit without the surface strain.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.