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US 2025/0357091 A1Published application
Apparatus and method of manufacturing a semiconductor device
AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
InventorsTsung-Cheng WU, Sheng-Ying WU, Ming-Hsien LIN, Chun-Fu CHEN
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
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.
Claims20
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, wherein the cover ring further includes alignment mark shields extending radially inwardly from an inner periphery of the cover ring for covering alignment marks of the wafer;
- a position sensor for determining whether the shield and the cover ring are aligned such that a radial offset of the cover ring with respect to the shield 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;
- and
- a controller programmed to:
- determine the radial offset using the position sensor;
- compare the radial offset to the established value;
- and
- adjust a position of at least one of the shield and the cover ring when the radial offset is greater than the established value.
8 more elements
A deposition apparatus, comprising:
- a chamber;
- a chuck disposed inside the chamber for supporting a wafer;
- a shield having a first opening exposing a portion of the chuck disposed over the chuck;
- a cover ring having a second opening exposing the portion of the chuck disposed over the shield, wherein the cover ring further includes alignment mark shields extending radially inwardly from an inner periphery of the cover ring for covering alignment marks of the wafer;
- a position sensor;
- and
- a controller programmed to:
- control the position sensor to determine relative positions of the shield with respect to the cover ring, of the cover ring with respect to the chuck, and of the shield with respect to the chuck;
- determine whether offsets in alignment of the shield with respect to the cover ring, of the cover ring with respect to the chuck, and of the shield with respect to the chuck are within a tolerance range;
- and
- adjust a position of the shield, cover ring, or the chuck when the offsets in alignment of the shield with respect to the cover ring, of the cover ring with respect to the chuck, and of the shield with respect to the chuck are not within the tolerance range.
8 more elements
A deposition apparatus, comprising:
- a chamber;
- a wafer support stage disposed inside the chamber for supporting a wafer;
- a shield having a first opening exposing a portion of a chuck disposed over the wafer support stage;
- a cover ring having a second opening exposing the portion of the chuck disposed over the shield, wherein the cover ring further includes alignment mark shields extending radially inwardly from an inner periphery of the cover ring for covering alignment marks of the wafer;
- a position sensor;
- a position adjustment mechanism;
- and
- a controller programmed to:
- determine an offset in a relative position of the cover ring with respect to the shield using the position sensor;
- determine whether the offset is within a tolerance range;
- and
- control the position adjustment mechanism to correct a position of at least one of the shield and the cover ring when the offset is outside the tolerance range.
9 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.