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US 6,659,842 B2Granted
Method and apparatus for optical monitoring in chemical mechanical polishing
AssigneeApplied Materials, Inc.
InventorsAndreas Norbert Wiswesser, Judon Tony Pan, Buguslaw Swedek, Manoocher Birang
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus, as well as a method, brings a surface of a substrate into contact with a polishing pad that has a window, causes relative motion between the substrate and the polishing pad, and directs a light beam through the window so that the motion of the polishing pad relative to the substrate causes the light beam to move in a path across the substrate. Light beam reflections from the substrate are detected, and used to determine polishing parameters, detect process repeatability, and qualify processes.
Claims27
A method of generating endpoint parameters, comprising:
- polishing a first substrate;
- detecting light beam reflections during polishing of the first substrate to generate a first plurality of intensity measurements;
- determining a radial range to use for endpoint detection from the first plurality of intensity measurements;
- polishing a second substrate;
- detecting light beam reflections during polishing of a second substrate to generate a second plurality of intensity measurements;
- sorting the second plurality of intensity measurements into radial zones arranged relative to the center of the substrate;
- determining a polishing endpoint from those second intensity measurements that were sorted into zones which are within the radial range.
4 more elements
A method of determining polishing parameters, comprising:
- bringing a surface of a substrate into contact with a polishing surface that has a window;
- causing relative motion between the substrate and the polishing surface;
- directing a light beam through the window;
- causing the light beam to move in a path across the substrate;
- detecting light beam reflections from a layer in the substrate;
- generating reflection data associated with the light beam reflections;
- calculating a radial position relative to the center of the substrate for each intensity measurement;
- displaying the reflection data from a scan of the light beam across the substrate;
- and
- selecting polishing parameters to provide uniform polishing of the substrate based on the displayed reflection data,
- wherein the reflection data includes a plurality of intensity measurements made at a plurality of positions along the path across the substrate.
8 more elements
A method of determining polishing parameters, comprising:
- bringing a surface of a substrate into contact with a polishing surface that has a window;
- causing relative motion between the substrate and the polishing surface;
- directing a light beam through the window;
- causing the light beam to move in a path across the substrate;
- detecting light beam reflections from a layer in the substrate;
- generating reflection data associated with the light beam reflections;
- displaying the reflection data from a scan of the light beam across the substrate;
- and
- receiving user input to select polishing parameters to provide uniform polishing of the substrate based on the displayed reflection data.
6 more elements
A method of determining polishing parameters, comprising:
- bringing a surface of a substrate into contact with a polishing surface that has a window;
- causing relative motion between the substrate and the polishing surface;
- directing a light beam through the window;
- causing the light beam to move in a path across the substrate;
- detecting light beam reflections from a layer in the substrate;
- generating reflection data associated with the light beam reflections;
- calculating a radial position relative to the center of the substrate for each intensity measurement;
- displaying the reflection data from a scan of the light beam across the substrate;
- and
- receiving user input to select polishing parameters to provide uniform polishing of the substrate based on the displayed reflection data,
- wherein the reflection data includes a plurality of intensity measurements made at a plurality of positions along the path across the substrate.
8 more elements
A method of determining polishing parameters, comprising:
- bringing a surface of a substrate into contact with a polishing surface that has a window;
- causing relative motion between the substrate and the polishing surface;
- directing a light beam through the window;
- causing the light beam to move in a path across the substrate;
- detecting light beam reflections from a layer in the substrate;
- generating reflection data associated with the light beam reflections;
- dividing the reflection data into a plurality of radial ranges;
- determining which radial range is the last portion to be completely polished;
- displaying the reflection data from a scan of the light beam across the substrate;
- and
- receiving user input to select polishing parameters to provide uniform polishing of the substrate on the displayed reflection data.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.