Back to results
US 2026/0165089 A1Published application
System and Method for Measuring Ion Currents During a Plasma Processing
AssigneeInspiring Atoms Pte Ltd
InventorYang Pan
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Disclosed herein are a semiconductor manufacturing system and method for real time ion current measurement during plasma processing. The system features a control circuit with a thermal feedback loop and pulse-width modulation (PWM) for dynamic power regulation. Reductions in heating power required to sustain targeted temperatures, measured before and after plasma ignition, are used to determine ion currents based on data from previously conducted testing procedures.
Claims20
An electrostatic chuck (ESC) of a process system, comprising:
- a plurality of zones, each zone including:
- a heating unit configured to adjust the temperature of the zone;
- a temperature sensor configured to measure the temperature of the zone;
- and
- a cold plate including one or more temperature sensors and coolant channels;
- a control circuit of the heating unit, including:
- a thermal feedback loop configured to dynamically adjust the power delivered to a heater of the heating unit based on the measured temperature of the zone;
- a pulse-width modulation (PWM) mechanism configured to regulate the power delivered to the heater for achieving a targeted temperature for the zone as stipulated in a recipe;
- and
- a system controller configured to conduct a first, second, and third testing procedures,
- wherein the first testing procedure is configured to determine reference voltages for the control circuits to achieve the targeted temperature for the zone;
- wherein the second testing procedure is configured to determine ion current as a function of the operating conditions of a plasma source and a bias unit of the process system;
- and
- wherein the third testing procedure is configured to determine the ion current as a function of heating power reductions required to sustain the targeted temperature after plasma ignition.
11 more elements
A method for determining ion currents during plasma processing in a process chamber, comprising:
- providing an ESC with a plurality of zones, each zone configured with a heating unit including a control circuit;
- utilizing a thermal feedback loop of the control circuit to bring each zone into targeted temperature based on a recipe and recording required heating powers;
- igniting a plasma according to the recipe;
- and
- measuring and recording reductions in heating power required to sustain the targeted temperatures.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.