# US 2021/0241999 A1 · Apparatus and method of manufacturing a semiconductor device > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2021/0241999 A1 - Document ID: US20210241999A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 17/141,751 - Filed: 2021-01-05 - Published: 2021-08-05 - Earliest claimed: 2020-01-31 - Assignees: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd. - Applicants: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. - Inventors: Tsung-Cheng WU; Sheng-Ying WU; Ming-Hsien LIN; Chun Fu CHEN - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20210241999A1 ## CPC - H01J 37/32651: {Shields, e.g. dark space shields, Faraday shields} - H01J 37/3299: {Feedback systems} - H10P 14/412: {Deposition of metallic or metal-silicide materials} - H10P 50/242: {of Group IV materials} - H10P 50/262: {by physical means only} - H10P 72/0606: {Position monitoring, e.g. misposition detection or presence detection} - H10P 72/7611: {characterised by edge profile or support profile} - H01J: ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS (spark-gaps H01T; electric arc lamps H05B31/00; particle accelerators H05H) - H10P: GENERIC PROCESSES OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF DEVICES COVERED BY CLASS H10 ## Abstract In order to reduce the occurrence of current alarms in a semiconductor etching or deposition process, a controller determines an offset in relative positions of a cover ring and a shield over a wafer within a vacuum chamber. The controller provides a position alarm and/or adjusts the position of the cover ring or shield when the offset is greater than a predetermined value or outside a range of acceptable values. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An apparatus, comprising: a chamber; a wafer support stage inside the chamber for supporting a wafer; a shield disposed over the wafer support stage, the shield having a first opening exposing at least a portion of the wafer support stage; a cover ring disposed over the shield, the cover ring having a second opening exposing the portion of the wafer support stage; and a position sensor for determining whether the shield and cover ring are aligned such that a radial offset is less than an established value, wherein a signal from the position sensor triggers an alarm when the radial offset is greater than the established value. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the position sensor is configured to determine whether the shield and cover ring are aligned by measuring a distance between an outer periphery of the shield and an edge of the second opening. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising an adjustment mechanism for re-aligning the shield and the cover ring based on the radial offset determined by the position sensor. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The apparatus of claim 1, where the apparatus is at least one of: a material deposition apparatus and an etching apparatus. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The apparatus of claim 1, where the apparatus is a physical vapor deposition apparatus. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a position adjustment mechanism for adjusting a relative position of the cover ring with respect to at least one of the shield and the wafer support stage. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The apparatus claim 6, further comprising a controller programmed to: determine an offset in the relative position of the cover ring and the shield using the position sensor; compare the offset to the established value stored in an electronic memory; and instruct the position adjustment mechanism to adjust a position of at least one of the shield and the cover ring when the offset is greater than the established value. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a deposition ring disposed between the cover ring and the shield within the chamber. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the position sensor is configured to further determine whether deposition ring and at least one of the shield and cover ring are aligned such that a radial offset is less than the established value. ### Claim 10 A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, the method comprising: disposing a workpiece on a support stage in a chamber; disposing a shield over the workpiece; disposing a cover ring over the shield such that an opening in the shield is aligned with an opening in the cover ring in order to expose the support stage; aligning the shield and cover ring such that an offset in a radial alignment of the shield and the cover ring is less than an offset threshold value; and commencing a semiconductor manufacturing process on the workpiece after it is determined that the offset in a radial alignment of the shield and cover ring is less than the offset threshold value. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, wherein the offset threshold value is 0.3 millimeters (mm). ### Claim 12 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10 wherein the chamber further comprises a position sensor and a position adjustment mechanism for: determining an offset in the relative position of the cover ring and the shield using the position sensor; comparing the offset to the offset threshold value, wherein the offset threshold value is stored in an electronic memory; and instructing the position adjustment mechanism to adjust a position of at least one of the shield and the cover ring when the offset is substantially greater than the offset threshold value. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, wherein the comparing and the instructing are performed iteratively until the offset is less than the offset threshold value. ### Claim 14 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, wherein the processing operation is at least one of an etching operation and a physical vapor deposition operation. ### Claim 15 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, further comprising: disposing a deposition ring between the cover ring and the shield within the chamber; and determining whether deposition ring and at least one of the shield and cover ring are aligned such that a radial offset is less than the established value. ### Claim 16 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, further comprising: commencing the processing operation when the offset is less than the offset threshold value. ### Claim 17 A method, comprising: disposing a workpiece over a support stage in a processing chamber; determining a relative position of a shield and a cover ring disposed over the support stage; determining whether an offset in the relative position of the shield and cover ring is within a tolerance range; adjusting a position of at least one of the shield and the cover ring when the offset is not within the tolerance range; and performing a semiconductor device processing operation on the workpiece after confirming that the offset of the shield and the cover ring is within the tolerance range. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, wherein the semiconductor device processing operation is at least one of: etching the workpiece disposed on the support stage and depositing a material on the workpiece disposed on the support stage. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The method of claim 18, wherein the depositing a material is a physical vapor deposition operation. ### Claim 20 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, wherein the tolerance range is between 0 and 0.3 millimeters.