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US 2014/0197134 A1Published application
Systems and methods for plasma processing of microfeature workpieces
AssigneeMicron Technology, Inc.
InventorsShu Qin, Allen McTeer
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Abstract
Systems and methods for plasma processing of microfeature workpieces are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, a method includes generating a plasma in a chamber while a microfeature workpiece is positioned in the chamber, measuring optical emissions from the plasma, and determining a parameter of the plasma based on the measured optical emissions. The parameter can be an ion density or another parameter of the plasma.
Claims20
A system for processing a microfeature workpiece, comprising:
- a plasma chamber coupleable to a source of gas;
- a workpiece support positioned within the plasma chamber and configured to carry the microfeature workpiece;
- a detector positioned external to the plasma chamber for measuring intensities of optical emissions from a plasma at discrete wavelengths, wherein the detector measures the intensities of optical emissions from a first region of the plasma spaced apart from the microfeature workpiece by a first distance and from a second region of the plasma spaced apart from the microfeature workpiece by a second distance;
- and
- a controller operably coupled to the detector, the controller being configured to:
- selectively add only a first subset of intensities of the optical emissions at discrete wavelengths from the first region,
- selectively add only a second subset of intensities of the optical emissions at discrete wavelengths from the second region, and
- estimate a plasma parameter by determining a distance from the microfeature workpiece at which selectively added first or second subsets of intensities are a predetermined percentage of a maximum of the selectively added intensities.
5 more elements
A method of processing a microfeature workpiece, comprising:
- generating a plasma in a chamber while a microfeature workpiece is positioned in the chamber;
- determining intensities of optical emissions at a plurality of discrete wavelengths from a first region of the plasma spaced apart from the microfeature workpiece by a first distance;
- determining intensities of the optical emissions at a plurality of discrete wavelengths from a second region of the plasma spaced apart from the microfeature workpiece by a second distance different than the first distance;
- selectively adding only a first subset of the intensities of the optical emissions at the discrete wavelengths from the first region;
- selectively adding only a second subset of the intensities of the optical emissions at the discrete wavelengths from the second region;
- and
- estimating a plasma parameter by determining a distance from the microfeature workpiece at which selectively added first or second subsets of intensities are a predetermined percentage of a maximum of the selectively added intensities.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.