Method and apparatus for run-to-run control of deposition process

An apparatus for controlling a deposition process in a manufacturing process, comprising:

• a processing tool capable of receiving at least one control input parameter and processing a semiconductor device;
• a metrology data acquisition unit interfaced with said processing tool and capable of acquiring metrology data from said processing tool;
• a production data analysis unit interfaced with said metrology data acquisition unit and capable of analyzing said metrology data from said metrology data acquisition unit;
• and
• a control input parameter adjustment unit interfaced with said production data analysis unit and said processing tool and being capable of performing adjustments upon said control input parameter to process a subsequent semiconductor device, based upon a comparison between a maximum step size and a calculated step size to determine the step size of the change made to said control input parameter.

An apparatus for controlling a deposition process in a manufacturing process, comprising:

• means for performing a process recipe setting step;
• means for performing a process run of semiconductor devices based upon said process recipe;
• means for acquiring metrology data relating to said process run of semiconductor devices;
• means for determining whether production results are within a predetermined tolerance level, based upon said metrology data;
• and
• means for modifying said process recipe setting in response to a determination that said production results are within a predetermined tolerance level for processing a subsequent semiconductor device, based upon said metrology data means for modifying said process recipe setting comprises means for modifying a control input parameter based upon a comparison between a maximum step size and a calculated step size to determine the step size of the change made to said control input parameter.

A system for controlling a deposition process in a manufacturing process, comprising:

• a processing tool capable of receiving at least one control input parameter, for processing a semiconductor device;
• a metrology data acquisition unit interfaced with said processing tool and capable of acquiring metrology data from said processing tool;
• a production data analysis unit interfaced with said metrology data acquisition unit and capable of analyzing said metrology data from said metrology data acquisition unit;
• and
• a control input parameter adjustment unit interfaced with said production data analysis unit and said processing tool and being capable of performing adjustments upon said control input parameter for processing a subsequent semiconductor device, based upon a comparison between a maximum step size and a calculated step size to determine the step size of the change made to said control input parameter.

A computer readable program storage device encoded with instructions that, when executed by a computer, performs a method for controlling a deposition process in a manufacturing process, comprising:

• performing a process recipe setting step;
• performing a process run of semiconductor devices based upon said process recipe;
• acquiring metrology data relating to said process run of semiconductor devices;
• determining whether production results are within a predetermined tolerance level, based upon said metrology data;
• and
• modifying said process recipe setting in response to a determination that said production results are within a predetermined tolerance level for processing a subsequent semiconductor device, based upon said metrology data modifying said process recipe setting comprises modifying a control input parameter based upon a comparison between a maximum step size and a calculated step size to determine the step size of the change made to said control input parameter.