Plasma ignition validation in a plasma-assisted wafer process background
AssigneeASM IP Holding B.V.
InventorBeomGyu Heo
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus for semiconductor processing may be provided. The apparatus may comprise a reactor chamber configured to process a wafer, a plasma generator to generate a plasma in the reactor chamber, a plasma control board provided with a power control to control the plasma power in the reactor chamber, and a process controller operably connected to the plasma control board and configured to set plasma parameters for the plasma in the reactor chamber. The plasma control board may comprise a plasma power measurement sensor and may be constructed and/or programmed to count both the number of plasma pulses.
Claims8
An apparatus for semiconductor processing, the apparatus comprising:
- a reactor chamber configured to process a wafer;
- a plasma generator provided to the reactor chamber to generate a plasma in the reactor chamber;
- a plasma control board operably connected to the plasma generator and provided with a power control to control plasma power in the reactor chamber;
- and
- a process controller operably connected to the plasma control board and configured to set plasma parameters for the plasma in the reactor chamber,
- wherein the plasma control board comprises a plasma power measurement sensor and is constructed and/or programmed to count both a number of plasma pulses whose plasma power enters into a plasma power valid range when the plasma power goes up through a plasma power low threshold and a number of plasma pulses whose plasma power enters into a plasma power valid range when the plasma power goes down through a plasma power high threshold.
A semiconductor processing method in an apparatus comprising a reactor chamber configured to process a wafer, a plasma generator provided to the reactor chamber to generate a plasma in the reactor chamber, a plasma control board comprising a plasma power measurement sensor, and the plasma control board operably connected to the plasma generator and provided with a power control to control plasma power in the reactor chamber, and a process controller operably connected to the plasma control board and configured to set plasma parameters for the plasma in the reactor chamber, the method comprising,
- setting the plasma parameters from recipe or operator input;
- sending the plasma parameters to the plasma control board;
- sensing and counting a number of good pulses in the plasma power;
- receiving e from the plasma control board;
- and
- deciding whether number of good ignition is within a predetermined acceptable range or not,
- wherein the counting the number of good pulses is to count both a number of plasma pulses whose plasma power enters into a plasma power valid range when the plasma power goes up through a plasma power low threshold and a number of plasma pulses whose plasma power enters into a plasma power valid range when the plasma power goes down through a plasma power high threshold.
A non-transitory, computer-readable and tangible medium having stored thereon a set of instructions that are executable by a processor of a computer system to carry a method comprising:
- setting plasma parameters from recipe or operator input;
- sending the plasma parameters to a plasma control board;
- sensing and counting a number of good pulses in plasma power;
- receiving the result from the plasma control board;
- and
- deciding whether number of good ignition is within a predetermined acceptable range or not,
- wherein the counting the number of good pulses is to count both a number of plasma pulses whose plasma power enters into a plasma power valid range when the plasma power goes up through a plasma power low threshold and a number of plasma pulses whose plasma power enters into a plasma power valid range when the plasma power goes down through a plasma power high threshold.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.